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August 28, 2026
- WEST BANK: IDF Formalizes Siege on Qusra, Settlers Expand Yitzav Outpost Near Bethlehem; New Yesh Din Report on Settler Violence in Areas A & B
- BONUS READS
WEST BANK
IDF Formalizing Siege on Qusra
The IDF finally managed to dislodge settlers from their makeshift camps built and positioned to coerce Palestinians into abandoning their land and homes in the village of Qusra. After the settlers left, the IDF installed new gates blocking the roads to three Palestinian homes in Qusra – keeping the families trapped in their homes unable to leave without coordinating with the Israeli army. While formalizing an Israeli military presence in the village and the siege on several homes, the IDF continues to allow settlers to freely roam the area, making the whole village fearful of proceeding with daily life in their village.
Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti writes:
“Qusra exposes an architecture of colonialism in which the West Bank is experienced as one large enclosure without the need for a wall. While Gaza has made the word “siege” synonymous with a territory encircled from the outside, Qusra and the West Bank require that we recognise another form of siege. One which advances from the inside of the territory where the perimeter is constantly redrawn around Palestinian lives.
We must understand that Qusra is not an isolated incident of settlers and military between settlers and three families. It is three families against one of the strongest and most brutal regimes of our time, and it doesn’t end with them. It extends to all Palestinians in the West Bank facing a large-scale transformation which not only seizes lands and homes, but holds captive Palestinian lives.”
Palestinian journalist Dr. Ramzy Baroud writes:
“What emerged was not simply settler violence but a division of labor: settlers create the crisis; the army imposes the restrictions; Palestinian movement is curtailed; and the victims themselves are pressured to leave.”
Settlers Expand Outpost Near Bethlehem
Wafa news reports settlers are continuing to expand the new “Yizav” outpost in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem. This week settlers put Israeli flags along a nearby road that is utilized by Palestinians, and have moved several mobile homes to the area.
In June 2026, the Israeli government has declared 116 dunams of land to be included in the jurisdiction of the new “Yitzav” settlement, located on land belonging to Beit Sahour. The designated land includes the former military compound that settlers initially (and illegally) first established the Yitzav outpost just four months ago, but it also includes surrounding lands and part of a public park that belongs to the municipality of Beit Sahour
New Yesh Din Report — “The Next Frontier: Violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians in Areas A and B”
Yesh Din has published a new report documenting the expansion of settler construction and violence into Areas A and B of the West Bank over the past 2+ years. The introduction explains:
“Since 2024, the violence and pressure exerted by the government, military and settlers on Palestinians have been rapidly shifting from Area C into Areas B and even A. To this end, more and more outposts are being established in Area B, and attempts are already underway to establish outposts in Area A as well. As outposts advance deeper into Palestinian territory, violence, harassment and terror follow. Yesh Din data shows that in 2026, roughly two-thirds (62.6%) of the settler violence incidents it documented took place in Areas A or B, compared to 32.4% in 2025. These figures illustrate what is already clearly felt on the ground: the continued shrinking of Palestinian space and the ongoing, forced displacement of Palestinian residents into ever smaller areas of the West Bank.”
Read the full report online.
BONUS READS
- “Armed Israeli settler ‘hikes’ aren’t new — but they’re becoming deadly” (+972 Magazine, 8/26/2026)
- “Under Israel’s watch, Palestinian gangs are sowing chaos in the West Bank” (+972 Magazine, 8/25/2026)
- “Israel Must Choose Between Itself and Its West Bank Settlements” (Haaretz Editorial, 8/27/2026)
- “US stresses opposition to Israeli West Bank annexation but avoids condemning E1 plan” (The Times of Israel, 8/21/2026)
- “E1 settlement: Why Netanyahu, Israel’s right might not mind global outrage” (Al Jazeera, 8/24/2026)
- “Israel Is Forcing Palestinians to Take Sledgehammers to Their Homes in East Jerusalem” (DAWN, 8/21/2026)
- “Israeli Lawmaker Tzvi Succot Smashes Palestinian Memorial in West Bank Guarded by IDF” (Haaretz, 8/25/2026)
- “Israel is exporting its West Bank land seizure model to colonize new territory in Syria, using 140 cattle to do it” (Mondoweiss, 8/25/2026)
- “Forget a Map, This Is How Palestinians Are Navigating Unpredictable West Bank Roads” (Haaretz, 8/26/2026)
- “Smotrich says he will ‘Judaize’ northern and southern Israel: ‘I did it in the West Bank‘” (Haaretz, 8/27/2026)
- “IDF’s West Bank chief said to warn PM that settler attacks could spark major Palestinian terror outbreak” (The Times of Israel, 8/25/2026)
- “What’s behind Israel’s growing assault on West Bank healthcare” (972 Magazine, 8/24/2026)