{"id":2689,"date":"2026-08-18T13:11:58","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2689"},"modified":"2026-08-18T13:11:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:11:58","slug":"palestinian-american-returns-to-besieged-west-bank-home-but-israeli-settlers-remain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topmovingpross.com\/?p=2689","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian American returns to besieged West Bank home but Israeli settlers remain"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) \u2014 The Palestinian American whose home in the occupied West Bank<\/span> has been besieged<\/span> for more than a week confronted Israeli settlers on Tuesday and demanded Israeli forces remove them from his property.<\/p>\n

Read more Russia summons Japanese envoy following Putin\u2019s visit to disputed islands<\/a><\/p>\n

But on his first day back at his home in the village of Qusra, Loui Ridi was ultimately told to go back inside because the area was a closed military zone.<\/p>\n

Israeli soldiers asked the settlers to leave the area as well, but Ridi said he saw at least three settlers close enough to return and threaten his family if the army leaves.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I need to walk outside of my house, I\u2019m not able. I have to get a permission and coordination and it\u2019s going to take hours if it\u2019s even possible to leave,\u201d Ridi said.<\/p>\n

Ridi yelled at one of the settlers to get off his property and pleaded with the soldiers to remove them, according to video he shared with The Associated Press. He told the settler that he wasn\u2019t allowed to be there and called him a terrorist.<\/p>\n

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The soldiers who told Ridi to get back inside his home also pleaded with settlers to leave peacefully.<\/p>\n

For Ridi, the exchange extinguished any sense of victory remaining after he managed, with the aid of a military escort, to enter his home on Monday. He said the encounter epitomized how the army has been unable or unwilling to clear the area of settlers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as (Israeli soldiers) leave \u2014 like if they leave today \u2014 probably on the same day or a couple hours later, the settlers may come back and build the same tent in front of my house,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Qusra standoff is the latest violence in the West Bank<\/h2>\n

Some 2.8 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule in the West Bank, with the Palestinian Authority exercising limited autonomy in population centers. Roughly 560,000 Israeli settlers who live in a growing number of communities and farming outposts across the territory. Emboldened by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s<\/span> right-wing government, extremist settlers have routinely attacked<\/span> villages and set homes, cars and mosques ablaze in the occupied West Bank this year.<\/p>\n

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The international community largely considers Israeli settlements to be illegal and obstacles to peace.<\/p>\n

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Few episodes garner as much international attention as the siege in Qusra. However, settlers have staged takeovers of other Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank. In the neighboring village of Jalud, settlers surrounded a home last month and prevented Palestinians from entering or exiting until they decided to escape and not come back.<\/p>\n

Palestinian officials report 87 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli settlers or soldiers this year. Three Israelis have been killed including two in a nearby clash last month. <\/p>\n

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