Activists attempted to deliver supplies to Palestinians under an almost week-long settler siege in the West Bank on Friday, with the Israeli military again deployed at the flashpoint site.
Rogue Israeli settlers at Qusra near Nablus began blockading Palestinian homes on Sunday and have defied attempts by the military to remove them, with residents saying they have been cut off from food and other supplies.
An AFP journalist reported seeing settlers at the site early on Friday, but they appeared to have dispersed from the immediate vicinity by later in the morning.
The siege has drawn unusually sharp criticism from the United States.
A few dozen activists led a march towards the blockaded houses on Friday holding a Palestinian flag, signs reading “Justice for All” and donations for the families, the AFP journalist said.
The donated supplies, which included water, drinks and snacks, were dropped near the gates of one of the houses where heavily armed Israeli security forces were stationed.
The military said they would check the supplies before allowing them into the house, where residents could be seen looking down from a balcony.
The AFP journalist had earlier reported that the settlers had set up a new tent near one of the blockaded houses and that two military vehicles had arrived at the site.
But by late morning, the tent had been removed and the settlers were nowhere to be seen.
Against the backdrop of the siege in Qusra, Defense Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare a plan to transfer all enforcement of civilian matters regarding West Bank settlers to the Israeli police -- a measure which, if implemented, would be a step towards Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory.
Several ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government openly call for the annexation of all or part of the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.
Currently, with the West Bank an occupied territory, enforcement power regarding settlers sits with the Israeli military.
“The IDF’s role is to fight Palestinian terrorism and focus on defending borders and communities against threats. All responsibility for enforcing civil matters and maintaining law and order will be transferred to police responsibility,” a statement from Katz’s office read.
He was quoted as saying the military’s responsibility was not to “chase boys on the hilltops,” in an apparent reference to the rogue settlers besieging Qusra.
Israeli media have reported however that a transfer of enforcement powers would be highly unlikely to go through before national elections scheduled for October 27, which polls show are looking tight.
On Thursday, the Israeli military said troops had been deployed in Qusra “to protect the residents and maintain security in the area.”
The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, for years a staunch supporter of settlers, on Thursday criticized the siege, saying there was “no excuse for such thuggish behavior.”
“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” Huckabee wrote on X.
One of the besieged homes is owned by a US citizen.