The United States has conveyed angry messages to the Israeli government over its failure to rein in settler violence in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media reports Wednesday, with Washington reportedly fuming over what it described as “anarchy” in the territory.
The reported friction centers on an ongoing standoff in the Palestinian village of Qusra, south of Nablus, where settlers have besieged a pair of homes on the town’s outskirts since Sunday, according to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. An American citizen is among those trapped inside, the report said. The Israeli military has condemned the incident but has not removed the settlers from the area.
The dispute comes amid a broader surge in settler violence across the West Bank in recent months. The United Nations human rights office said settler attacks were on pace to exceed 2,000 by the end of 2026, up from 1,835 last year, with monthly rates rising by roughly a quarter compared with 2025. UN data shows nearly 700 Palestinians in nine West Bank communities were displaced by settler attacks in the year’s first four months alone.
The violence has intensified following a gun battle near Nablus in July that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers, after which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a wide-scale military crackdown across the territory. Settlers have since stormed villages, torched a mosque in Qusra and clashed with residents, prompting protests in Tel Aviv against both the settler attacks and the military operation.
Retired Israeli security officials have separately warned that unchecked settler violence risked consequences more severe than the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, urging intervention from the White House.
The reported tension over the West Bank comes as Washington has also publicly criticized Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz this week over comments ruling out an Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon, with a State Department official saying such a stance was inconsistent with commitments Israel made under a US-brokered ceasefire framework.
