The siege of Palestinians, and Israeli settler violence in occupied West Bank | Global News Podcast

Welcome to the Global News podcast from. the BBC. I'm Charlotte Gallagher and. today we're speaking to our. correspondent John Donnison who's in the. village of Kusra in the occupied West. Bank. Families there have been under. siege for days now by Israeli settlers. Tell us about the siege and how it. started. >> So this siege started on Sunday. You can. see on the hillside behind me the. buildings up there. There are. Palestinian houses there and on Sunday. settlers came Israeli settlers and they.

surrounded that house and they set up. what's known as an outpost or sort of. tent encampment outside the house. They. cut off the water, they cut off the. electricity, they weren't allowing food. to get in, they weren't allowing or they. were trying to block ambulances getting. to the house and the families in there. were in effect under siege. Now, today. the Israeli army went in overnight and. in the early hours of the morning and. they demolished this outpost and they.

moved the settlers on but the families. are still stuck inside those houses and. the settlers have just moved a little. way down the hillside. >> How are people feeling inside this. community? Presumably they're worried. that they're going to be forced out of. their homes. >> Well, that is the aim of these settlers. This is a new tactic that they're using. in effect to try and starve people out. So we have seen a lot of violence from. Israeli settlers over the last few. years. The United Nations says this is.

its highest levels since records began. but that has involved physical attacks. on Palestinians, destruction of. property. But this sort of laying siege. is a new thing and the aim is to take. over the land which the settlers. believe is theirs legally. under international and Israeli law it. isn't there. So obviously the villagers. are very worried. Just down in the. village itself. the army went in this morning in. considerable number and they went in and.

took over, we think, 11 Palestinian. homes, ordered everyone out and said. that they were going to now be used for. military purposes. We spoke to one. gentleman there who said he'd been. waiting 3 hours to be let back in and so. far to no avail. We could see soldiers. posing on the rooftop of some of those. houses. So, yes, the situation is pretty. tense. >> You talk about the escalation of. violence in the West Bank towards. Palestinians. Is there any policing of.

this at all by either the IDF or any. kind of authority there? >> Yes, I mean, the Israeli military and. the Israeli government, their line is. that this is really a handful of. extremists who are carrying out, in. their own words, deplorable acts. But, the accusation is that the Israeli. military and the government don't do. anything about it. So, you know, we are. talking about really maybe a dozen, 15. settlers here outside these houses. Now,

Israel has one of the most powerful. militaries in the world. They could have. shifted them pretty quickly. They. haven't done so and in fact, at the. weekend, we actually saw some of the. soldiers who were sent here to. supposedly deal with this problem. actually praying with the very settlers. who are laying siege to the house. So, the accusation from human rights groups. and the UN is that the government and. the military allow these groups to act. with impunity and indeed, there are.

far-right ministers within the Israeli. government who very much believe in the. settlement settlement project and they. are actively encouraging, in the in the. minds of their critics, these sorts of. crimes. >> And will the election that's coming up. in October and what prime the Prime. Minister says about this and does about. this, could that potentially affect the. election? >> The settlement issue is divisive amongst. Israelis. There are lots of Israelis who.

think that it's damaging for. Israel's international reputation and. stories like this make the news. and uh it draws a lot of criticism. However, what I would say is that the. government of Israel at the moment, and. indeed Mike Huckabee who we've heard. from today, the US ambassador to Israel, who has been very critical of these. events in Kusra, calling it Jewish. terrorism. Both the Israeli government. and the US ambassador are broadly.

supportive of the settlement project. They have accelerated settlement. building in the occupied West Bank and. East Jerusalem. Settlement building. which is illegal under international. law. And the settlers, and indeed Mike. Huckabee himself, they believe that God. gave this land to the Jewish people. So, you know, they might criticize extreme. events like this, but the broader issue.

of settlements, uh that is very much. supported by the Israeli government and. the US administration. It just so. happens today that in Jenin, which is a. big Palestinian city to the north of. here, a whole new settlement is uh. opening. People are moving in. And that. is with the backing of the Israeli. government. The finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, I think is there today. uh opening those homes. So, you know, that's an important thing to remember. This is one incident, but settlement.

expansion has been accelerating in. recent years. >> What could potentially persuade the. Israeli government to crack down on. settler violence? Would it only be the. US essentially doing more and saying. more about it? Is there Is there else. that could stop it? >> Well, certainly, you know, uh criticism. of the actions of Israeli settlers, especially. the more extreme settlers, has been. going on for years from the. international community, the UN, the EU,

even the United States. But, it's it's. it's really only the United States who. can put pressure on Israel to stop this. And the truth is, although there have. been these. rare moments of criticism, broadly, the US administration is supportive of. the settlement project. >> And lastly, for the people in Qusra now, what do they think is going to happen?

>> Well, look, they're worried, you know, I. spoke to the mayor here, who he himself, his own brother and nephew were shot. dead and killed by settlers 2 years ago. He said things have never been as bad as. they are now. He said they were used to. violence. They've had the mosques. torched in Qusra over the years. But, he. said it was as bad as it's ever been, and I think they don't believe that the. Israeli army is there to help them and. protect them. They believe.

that the Israeli army is on the side of. the settlers. >> John, thank you. That was John Donnison. in the West Bank. And if you would like. to hear more from the Global News. podcast, please click the link below.