Amb Huckabee praises Israeli settler leader for condemning ‘siege’ on Palestinian homes in Qusra

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee praised a senior settlement movement leader for condemning the actions of radical settler activists in the Samaria village of Qusra, where clashes and confrontations have drawn international attention in recent days. Huckabee himself described the activists as “terrorists.”

In a follow-up post on 𝕏, Huckabee highlighted a statement made by Israel Ganz, whom he referred to as the “governor of Judea and Samaria,” saying he hoped “the media gives attention to this” and provides a more balanced picture of the coverage, which had focused on the actions of the settler activists.

The U.S. envoy wrote that “‘settlers' are not the problem in Judea/Samaria. ‘Unsettlers’ are. Very small minority who do great damage to Palestinian families & to Israel,” adding that “real settlers” like Ganz condemned their actions.

Since the start of the week, a group of radical settler activists had occupied an outpost near two homes in Qusra, near Nablus. The village is part of Area B under the Oslo Accords, where Israeli settlements and outposts are illegal under Israeli law.

According to claims by some activists, settlers in the area and Qusra residents have been engaged in an at times violent dispute over control of the mountain on whose slopes the village is located.

Israeli media reported throughout the week that the outpost was intended to “besiege” the homes, with the aim of forcing the residents to leave, while the activists allegedly behaved threateningly toward them.

בצה״ל אומרים שהצילייה פורקה עכשיו על ידי כוח מג״ב pic.twitter.com/r8072NO61G

— Haim Goldich | חיים גולדיטש (@HGoldich) August 14, 2026

Several attempts by increasingly large numbers of IDF troops to evacuate the settlers have apparently failed, with the tent re-erected on Friday morning before Border Police forces took it down again.

“The events in Qusra are serious and are not our way,” said Ganz, the effective leader of the settlement movement through his post as leader of the Yesha Council, the umbrella of Jewish municipalities in Judea and Samaria.

Ganz stressed that settlers can’t go “privately deciding to establish an outpost in the yard of a house, even when it concerns an illegal house or an attempt to take control of the land. There is no justification whatsoever for violence against uninvolved people or against the security forces.”

While noting that the events are being exploited for an anti-settlement campaign, he emphasized that they (the events) were “improper and unacceptable to us.”

“We are leading and will continue to lead the settlement enterprise in Binyamin, Judea and Samaria with determination and responsibility, in an orderly and proper manner. Alongside this, I call on the Israeli government to cancel the Oslo Accords and allow legitimate and regulated Jewish settlement throughout all the open areas,” Ganz concluded.

On Friday, Channel 12 News reported that the IDF will launch an investigation into the situation in Qusra, focusing in particular on its repeated failure to evacuate the activists and keep them away from the town despite having declared the area a closed military zone.

The investigation will also examine why the military took so long to intervene, allowing the incident to attract significant media attention, and why Palestinian families were temporarily ordered to leave their homes on Thursday before the order was rescinded.

Channel 12 further reported that the U.S. is demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issue a clear condemnation of the incident, adding that White House officials are involved in resolving the situation.

The U.S. is particularly concerned because one of the homes involved is owned by an American citizen.

“We are concerned that this is not negligence. It is not certain that your government understands the consequences it is causing with its own hands,” a U.S. official said.

The report further noted that Huckabee continues to be involved in the matter and is holding behind-the-scenes talks with senior Israeli officials to resolve it.

Army Radio reported on Thursday that the IDF has had to evacuate a record 151 illegal outposts in the first half of this year alone, highlighting the recent rise in such activity.

The IDF and the State Attorney’s Office are reportedly working to sue the founders of the outposts in civil court to recover the costs of evacuating them, hoping to establish the measure as an effective tool for curbing the phenomenon.