Israeli settler blockades part of escalating violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank

The recent siege of Palestinian homes by militant Israeli settlers in the village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank is far from an isolated incident.

But the U.S. citizenship of one of the Palestinian homeowners has drawn more media attention than the near-daily acts of aggression by hardline Jewish settlers aimed at pushing Palestinians from their land typically receive.

Ohio-based businessman Loui Ridi returned to Qusra on Monday, August 17, to protect his home – and his brother and nephew, who live there — as settlers encircled it and two nearby homes.

"I called my brother and he said, 'I have no food. I don't want to leave the house, but I need food,'" Ridi told CBC news in a video call from Qusra after his arrival.

For them to leave, he said, would be to invite the settlers to take his home.

"Just two months ago [settlers] were at my neighbour's village in Jalud," he said. "They put a siege on the family for a couple of weeks. And unfortunately, they managed to kick them out of their own house."

Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law. They have expanded significantly under the current government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultranationalist coalition partners, who critics accuse of giving tacit approval to settler violence.

One of Ridi's first acts after returning to Qusra was to fly an American flag from the roof of his building. He's asked the U.S. Embassy for help.

Qusra is about 16 kilometres south of Nablus as the crow flies and is surrounded by settlement blocs, including Migdalim and Shilo, as well as a growing number of outposts occupied by radical settlers.

Settler attacks causing casualties or property damage are averaging about six incidents a day this year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs — "higher than in any year on record."

The violence in Qusra prompted a rebuke from the U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who denounced those responsible as "Israeli terrorists" on social media.

"We're appalled at some of the things that have happened to families who are the victims of just criminal activity that is inexcusable and repugnant," he told Reuters in a later televised interview.

Huckabee is a strong supporter of Israel's settlement policy and of Jewish claims to a biblical right to the land, referring to the West Bank as Judea and Samaria.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem. Many live in large, long-established blocs, while others live in unauthorized outposts considered illegal even under Israeli law, at least on paper.