The United States ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has condemned settlers who are holding three families in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra, near Nablus, under siege, as “Israeli terrorists”.

The siege comes as Israel’s military conducts raids in Jenin, blocking access to aid for Palestinians in the refugee camp on the fourth day of its assault.

So what did Huckabee say about settler violence in the West Bank and how significant is this?

What has Huckabee said?

Huckabee, a staunch ally of Israel who has voiced support for Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite them being illegal under international law, made the unusually critical comments on Thursday, as Israeli settlers besieged three Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra, including one belonging to a dual US citizen.

“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” Huckabee wrote in a post on X. “No excuse for such thuggish behaviour.”

He added that the US embassy has been “VERY involved & the IDF & Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this”.

Huckabee posted a video of a convoy of Israeli military and police vehicles, saying they were removing “illegal trespassers there to intimidate Palestinian residents”.

US officials have long condemned settler violence towards Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in general terms but they have not deemed Israeli settlers’ actions “terror” or referred to them as “terrorists”.

Huckabee’s choice of words is one of the strongest public rebukes a US ambassador to Israel has issued over settler attacks.

What is happening in Qusra?

Palestinian residents of the village say they have been cut off from water, electricity and other critical supplies during the siege, which they describe as an attempt by the settlers to seize their land.

Loai Ridi, an American-Palestinian who lives in Toledo, US, but owns a house in the village, said his brother Qusai Abu Rida and 18-year-old nephew, Ahmed, were among those trapped.

“He [Qusai Abu Rida] does not want to leave the home. Because if he leaves the home, the settlers will take over immediately,” he said.

The family is relying on a temporary solar power system and leftover well water from the winter after supply lines were cut.

The United Nations human rights agency and the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates also condemned the settler siege in Qusra on Thursday.

“These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land,” the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said.

The three families – comprising 15 people, including two children – have been confined to their homes with their water and power cut off since Sunday, the agency reported.

“Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced,” it warned.

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from the scene of the siege on Thursday, said Israeli soldiers initially tried to move the trapped families out of their homes while settlers remained camped outside.

The families refused, not trusting that the Israeli soldiers would allow them back into their homes, and were eventually grouped together in one of the homes. Residents have watched settlers push families out and then take over their properties in the past, she reported.

Qusra has faced settler attacks for decades, Ibrahim explained, and residents tie the rise in violence to the spread of illegal settlements and the lack of accountability for attackers.

Will Israel authorities respond?

According to Israeli media, the authorities are trying to manage the siege by removing the settlers from the area, with limited success.

The Times of Israel reported that Israeli forces and police attempted to “evacuate the settlers” early on Thursday after a previous failed effort the day before. The settlers, who have used rocks and tents to block off the Palestinian homes, were still in the area on Thursday.

But while Huckabee posted a video of Israeli forces arriving to deal with the settlers to show that action is being taken, Palestinians remain sceptical.

However, Ibrahim said most Palestinians believe the Israeli army is “staging its response to the settler siege for the cameras”, and they expect the settlers will eventually return, even if they are removed now.

Abdel Azim Wadi, the mayor of Qusra, told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army has been protecting and helping the settlers. “We saw them praying together, barbecuing together and dancing together,” he said. “They are not very interested in helping the besieged families.”

Historically, the Israeli government has openly funded and built settlements for Jews to live there.

Over the past few years, the Israeli army has been operating a hotline it calls War Room C, for settlers to call and report Palestinian construction in Area C, the 60 percent of the West Bank which is fully under Israeli military and civil control.

Several Israeli laws enable settlers to seize Palestinian land. Israel has declared about 26 percent of the West Bank’s territory as “state land,” on which settlements can be built. Israel has used its own legal means to expropriate Palestinian property for public needs such as roads, settlements and parks.

What is the Israeli government’s approach to settlers?

While some action has been taken in the past against violent settlers, Palestinians say that, usually, Israeli forces support them. Recent videos have emerged from Qusra showing Israeli soldiers appearing to pray alongside the settlers holding families under siege there. Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify this footage.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has bolstered illegal settlement expansions since he first came to power in 1996.

Settlers are also actively backed by hardline members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who lives in an illegal settlement himself.

With elections scheduled for October, Netanyahu relies on settler and far-right support if he is to remain in power, meaning it is harder for his government to rein in settler violence or dismantle outposts even if it wished to, analysts say.

On Friday, far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has also been pro-settler, pledged to “continue turning cities and settlements into eligible areas for firearms” and urged Israelis to “go arm yourselves”, after the attorney general recommended closing investigation files against members of his office.

Why are settlers in the West Bank?

Settlers are Israeli citizens who live on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The vast majority of the settlements have been built either entirely or partially on stolen, private Palestinian land. There are thought to be more than 700,000 settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Settlers often establish outposts near Palestinian communities and then harass residents – cutting utilities, damaging olive groves and livestock, and mounting regular attacks – until families leave. The outposts are later expanded and frequently retroactively approved as official settlements.

Outposts can range from a small shanty of a few people to a community of up to 400 people.

Some of the settlers move to the occupied territories for religious reasons while others are drawn by the relatively lower cost of living and financial incentives offered by the government. Ultra-Orthodox Jews form one-third of all settlers.

Nasser Khdour, Middle East assistant research manager at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), said that 2026 is so far the deadliest year for settler violence since ACLED began tracking incidents in Palestine a decade ago.

“Incidents have included attacks on Palestinians, property destruction, damage to farming equipment and facilities, tree uprooting, and grazing on Palestinian agricultural land. Other incidents have involved looting, including the theft of equipment, sheep, and crops,” Khdour was quoted as saying on the ACLED website in May.

How fast are settlements growing in the West Bank?

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory, excluding East Jerusalem, among some three million Palestinians.

Last month, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan to establish 13 new settlements in the central occupied West Bank.

The number of new illegal settlements has soared recently, according to new data from the Palestinian Forum for Israeli Studies (MADAR). After averaging approximately eight outposts annually between 2012 and 2022, the number jumped to 32 in 2023, then 62 in 2024, reaching 86 in 2025.