When Loui Ridi hugged his young daughter goodbye at Detroit Metro Airport, she clung to his arm and refused to let go. The 46-year-old businessman said she then asked the question he wanted to avoid: “Are you going to be safe?”
Ridi, a Palestinian American based in Ohio, said that while he’s still unsure of the answer, there was no choice but to fly thousands of miles into a conflict zone. He had to try to stop his family home from being taken over by extremist Israeli settlers. “I couldn’t just watch from Ohio,” he said, adding, “I’m not sure what’s going to happen to me.”
His house sits on four acres overlooking the village of Qusra, where Palestinian authorities say the settlers are trying to seize two other properties as part of a strategy to link an outpost to the south and larger settlements to the west. In all, 10 people have been trapped in their homes for two weeks, cut off from water, electricity and food. Ridi managed to join them on Aug. 17 after coordinating with Palestinian officials, Israeli authorities and the mayor.
Residents say the siege is emblematic of the chaos that has deepened in the bigger of the two Palestinian territories since Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel in 2023, setting off the war in Gaza, around 30 miles away.
Israel tightened control over the entire West Bank, home to around 3 million Palestinians and at least 500,000 Israeli settlers, with its biggest military operations in the territory in more than two decades. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government says the aim is to protect Israelis. But the measures — ranging from surveillance and raids to new iron gates — coupled with an acceleration of settlement expansion and rising violence by extremist settlers, are upending daily Palestinian life.
Describing the situation across the West Bank as “grave,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin said earlier this week that “Palestinians will not abandon their land.”
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a staunch supporter of Israel and settlements, told Israeli media on Aug. 18 that attacks intended to instill fear in a community fit the historic definition of terror. He condemned settlers who occupy Palestinian homes, burn cars, or steal livestock, calling such actions “indefensible” and warning they ultimately risk harming Israel itself.
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Qusra is inside what is referred to as Area B of the West Bank, meaning the Palestinian Authority oversees civilian needs and the Israeli military security concerns. An Israeli military spokesman said soldiers and border police had been sent to Qusra “following an illegal takeover of land by Israeli civilians which disrupted the daily lives of local residents.”
He added, “Soldiers are currently permanently stationed in the area until further notice in order to protect its residents and prevent friction.”
Life in Qusra — which lies between Ramallah and Nablus — revolved around its small farms and olive trees. After the war in Gaza began, members of the 8,000-strong community reported increasing cases of arson, shootings, harassment during harvests and attempts to seize land. But they said they weren’t expecting a siege.
It effectively began on Aug. 8, when settlers pitched a tent in front of Ridi’s property and two others. A day later, they cut off the electricity and water, and blocked all entrances and exits. Three days after that, Israeli soldiers evacuated other families in the area, declaring it a military zone, and took up positions inside their homes, according to mayor Abdul Azim Wadi.
Wadi said the events followed months of escalating tension. Settlers erected an outpost on the hilltop in December. Israeli forces evacuated it repeatedly, but settlers returned each time, damaging homes and infrastructure and assaulting Palestinian municipal workers attempting repairs. Israel’s army introduced a “coordination system” it said was designed to beef up security, but which meant residents needed army permission to reach their own land, he added.
“The goal is displacement,” Wadi said. “What is happening in Qusra could become the reality for the entire West Bank.”
Since late 2023, Palestinian officials have documented 3,488 attacks by settlers and the killings of at least 21 Palestinians. With all the violence and restrictions on movement and trade, livelihoods have been lost. Unemployment is nearly 30%, the World Bank said earlier this year, with weak growth and a serious fiscal crisis.
The ridge where Ridi’s house is located offers control over surrounding areas and has been contested for some time, according to the Israeli settler organization Regavim.
As he built up a gas station and car wash business in Ohio, Ridi began constructing the house in Qusra, to create a haven for his extended family in the West Bank, which Palestinians and their allies had long expected would become the core of a future independent Palestinian state.
When he visited in December, the property was everything he had wanted it to be, with children running across the patio while older relatives tended to barbecues. But this month, he said he watched his dreams unravel from Ohio on a live security camera feed as settlers descended onto his land, breaking lights and shattering windows.
Ridi climbed to the roof after entering his house on Monday, and hung an American flag he brought over from the US. It was a plea for recognition, he said, adding “I wanted to send a clear message that I am an American citizen under siege.”
His daughters are waiting for him to return, but he fears that if he leaves now, he will lose his home for good.
“End the settlers’ attacks ,” he said. “Let us live in peace.”
With assistance from Ethan Bronner.
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