After Jewish settlers re-enter Palestinian town of Qusra, Netanyahu condemns ‘handful of rioters’

IDF soldiers and Border Patrol Police deployed to the town of Qusra on Saturday after dozens of masked Jewish settlers entered the village, broke into a Palestinian home and threw rocks at residents, injuring several residents. 

Earlier this month, the IDF dismantled several illegal Israeli outposts near Qusra, however, in the weeks since, some settlers continue to roam the area without any interference by the IDF. 

Video on social media showed Jewish settlers attacking a group of journalists from NBC, nearly running over a reporter who was filming their arrival and smashing the windows of one of the team’s vehicles.

צפייה חובה! תיעוד מלא של המתנחבלים תוקפים צוות חדשות של ה-NBC בג'אלוד
משחיתים את רכבם, מרביצים להם עם מוטות ופוצעים אותם באורח קל-בינוני. 5 פצועים בזירה.pic.twitter.com/ya9fYWYxMz

— Arbel - ארבל 🟦 (@ArbelPatootie) August 29, 2026

Palestinian residents reported that, despite a confrontation between the settlers and local residents lasting more than an hour, Israeli security forces allowed the settlers to leave without making any arrests.

Video footage showed several small fires near Qusra, which Palestinians claimed were set by the Israeli settlers. Several settlers affiliated with the Hilltop Youth movement disputed the account, saying some Jewish settlers had arrived separately to extinguish the fires before they could spread to nearby areas.

The Israeli military said the troops, along with Border Police units, “rushed to the village of Qusra following a report of Israeli rioters arriving in the village area and violent friction that included stone-throwing toward Palestinians and other civilians.” 

The troops first worked to remove the rioters from the house and separate the populations, to protect the occupants of the house, the statement continued, adding that an investigation had been started. 

While Palestinians said the settlers entered the area unprovoked, several settlers posted videos on social media showing a group of Palestinians from Qusra approaching Jewish settlements, throwing rocks and attempting to block roads leading into the town.

You play with people’s lives so cynically and you think someone buys your fake empathy?? You could have caused real damage!! You people are lunatics- seriously, you have very little understanding of what’s going on and what’s Fatah is planning, that you are literally supporting… pic.twitter.com/uN0weo1tQ2

— Itgq (@Itgq134014) August 30, 2026

The incident came just one day after armed settlers were seen entering the Palestinian town of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah. Several IDF soldiers accompanied the settlers, and there were no reported arrests made.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement condemning the rioting on Saturday evening, once again blaming the violence on “a handful of rioters.” 

“I strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence perpetrated in the villages of Qusra and Jalud by a handful of rioters who violate the law, cause enormous injustice to the law-abiding settler public, interfere with the IDF in carrying out its missions, and harm Israel's standing in the world,” Netanyahu said.

“The security forces acted quickly, confiscated three vehicles and brought the incident to an end within a short time,” Netanyahu added. “The IDF, the Shin Bet, and the police are conducting a vigorous investigation on the ground, and I expect the law enforcement agencies to arrest the rioters and bring them to justice as soon as possible.” 

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the vehicles seized were not involved in the Qusra incident. Videos of the incident showed settlers driving ATVs, which the coalition government provided to several illegal settler outposts in the past two years. 

Palestinian residents of the town told Reuters that when the IDF soldiers arrived, they fired tear gas at Palestinians and detained several residents rather than the Jewish settlers.

Security officials told Channel 12 News that the first IDF force to arrive in Qusra consisted of only six reserve soldiers, an insufficient number to handle the more than 50 settlers in the town.

“The decision they made was to separate the hawks, not to arrest 2 and for 48 to flee,” the security officials explained. “After a while, Border Police forces arrived and used riot-dispersal measures to get the settlers to flee.” 

At the same time, they said the event was an organized incident with clear support. They noted that 70 settlers armed with stones and clubs entered the village quickly and in an organized manner. 

Israeli police announced that the investigation had been assigned to the inter-organizational headquarters in cooperation with the Judea and Samaria Border Police and the Shin Bet domestic intelligence agency. Later reports in Hebrew media claimed that at least three vehicles used in the incident were confiscated by police and that investigations would continue. 

President Isaac Herzog issued a statement strongly condemning the “severe incidents of violence.” 

“This is a crossing of a red line by lawbreakers acting in complete violation of the laws and values ​​of the State of Israel,” Herzog said. “Another case in a series of events that constitute a stain on the face of Israel and require firm and decisive action.” 

He said that “the government, security agencies, the legal and enforcement systems must act with all tools and in full coordination to root out this unacceptable phenomenon and bring the rioters to justice.” 

Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Yachad [Together] party, condemned the riots, while also slamming Prime Minister Netanyahu. 

“Netanyahu's weekly condemnation of the riots in Qusra testifies to how incompetent he is in the face of Ben Gvir,” Bennett wrote on 𝕏. “Riots do not represent the settlement and harm it. They endanger IDF soldiers, destroy the remnants of Israel's good name and are contrary to every Jewish value.” 

Gadi Eisenkot, head of the Yashar party and a potential candidate for prime minister, called the riots “a security, leadership, political, and ethical disgrace that does not represent the vast majority of Israeli citizens.”

“This is the result of a government policy led by Netanyahu and his coalition partners in which they knowingly abandon the national interest of the State of Israel out of embarrassing and dangerous political weakness,” Eisenkot added. 

In a separate incident, armed settlers detained British activist Finn Joughin, who had come to support Palestinians in the village of Umm al-Kheir, near Hebron, after accusing him of inappropriate conduct towards a minor. 

Video showed Joughin using his body to block several settler youths from entering a Palestinian family’s property through a hole in the fence. A settler youth then accused Joughin of inappropriate contact with a child and called him a “pervert.” The settler group that posted the video claimed the alleged contact occurred before filming began.

במהלך השבת, אנרכיסט זר בשם Finn Joughin, הטריד מינית ילד יהודי בן 10, תוך כדי שהוא מונע ממנו לעבור בשכונה שלו, ביישוב כרמל. (גם התיעוד שלנו מתחיל באיחור, התקיפה המינית המשמעותית יותר קרתה לפני שנדלקה המצלמה).

מבוגרים שנכחו במקום נאלצו להרחיק אותו באופן פיזי עד שתגיע משטרה וכרגע… pic.twitter.com/tFthfuO36z

— ככה זה עובד (@thatshow_itwork) August 29, 2026

Joughin was detained by armed settlers from the nearby illegal outpost of Barkan and later transferred to the police

Some Israeli social media accounts questioned how the settlers were able to enter the area of Qusra and Jalud, which has been declared a closed military zone, as the only entrance from nearby Jewish settlements passes by IDF checkpoints. 

In front of the besieged houses in Qusra, under the window, soldiers sit at a checkpoint. Around them is a closed military area, which does not prevent the settlers riding the Ranger from passing by them, without being stopped.
About three weeks have passed since the army arrived… pic.twitter.com/zmyuXBME6Z

— מסתכלים לכיבוש בעיניים (@Mistaclim) August 28, 2026

In several incidents, settlers from unauthorized outposts in the area have forced Palestinian families from homes under construction without building permits, including in the town of Jalud earlier this month.

Critics have also questioned why the government, which has demonstrated its ability to locate and target senior Iranian leaders, has been unable to identify and apprehend leaders of the Hilltop Youth, which has repeatedly organized attacks against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria.

According to a Channel 12 report, rising tensions in the area have prompted the IDF to cancel the leave of some 10,000 reservists who were scheduled to take leave during the High Holy Days in September.

This comes after senior military officials reportedly warned Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz that rising incidents of violence, many of them allegedly instigated by Jewish settlers, could trigger a broader outbreak of violence this fall.

“There’s a group here that wants chaos,” an unnamed security official was quoted by Channel 12 as saying. “Support from part of the local leadership and parts of the government make enforcement difficult. It’s unclear whether there’s anyone who wants enforcement. Commanders on the ground feel alone in the campaign.”