Israeli settlers besiege a West Bank house owned by a U.S. citizen

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0:18Mattress settlers besiege a West Bank house owned by a U.S. citizen. You're listening to State of the World from NPR. We bring you the day's most vital international stories up close where they're happening. It's Monday, August 17th. I'm Greg Dixon. It's a bizarre standoff making headlines around the world. The family of a Palestinian American and man, have been under siege in their home in the occupied West Bank. Extremist Israeli settlers attacked the home for days, and the Israeli military has now sealed off the area. A United Nations agency was called in to deliver food, water, and medicine to the family.

1:00NPR's Frank Langfitt talked to one of the trapped family members. I'm looking out at the house. It's on a hillside surrounded by olive trees. It's a very nice modern house, 4 ,000 square feet. Settlers have been trying to basically take it over for more than a week, throwing rocks, cutting off electricity and water. I just saw two buses full of soldiers come up the road to the house. And Kusai Aburidi, who lives inside, he can't get out.

1:28The situation is catastrophic here in this household where I'm living with my neighbor and his family and his children. Neither him nor I are able to conduct our normal works, so we are not working at all. Secondly, the children are in panic, are afraid. Abaridi is speaking to me by phone and NPR producer Nuham Musla. He says the army has run the settlers off at times, but failed to detain them. Abaridi says this is all political theater.

1:58They claim that they are conducting a military campaign in order to evict the settlers. Actually, they are choking us. For four days they have been here, and they have not worked on getting rid of the settlers. The Israeli military said it had sent a battalion to the area and that water was restored. The settlers insist that the land is theirs because God gave it to the Jews in the Bible. Aburidi sees it differently.

2:28These are thieves. They want to take my three million shekel house and live in it for free. Three million Israeli shekels is about a million dollars. Last week, Ofer Falk, foreign policy advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a statement on the siege. Quote, Israel doesn't accept vigilantes in any form. We're investing a lot of effort to curb such sporadic incidents. I support annexation of the West Bank, and I know that they are causing a lot of damage to my cause. This is Ari Eldad. He's a former member of the Israeli parliament who lives in the West Bank. He wants to make it an official part of Israel.

3:06But he doesn't like the kinds of settlers who've been attacking Aburidi's home. Eldad says they're part of a larger group, grabbing land and spreading fear. There are maybe 300, 400 youngsters, the fringe, those who were expelled from schools. I think even though they are mostly recognized as religious, I think they have no God. What do you mean by that? I mean, nobody can tell them what to do. They live in the hills among themselves. A lot of them do not recognize the authority of the state of Israel. Eldet says the Israeli government doesn't crack down because some of the government's far-right supporters back these young people.

3:51Michael Milstein runs the Palestinian Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University. He says the attack in Kusra and the lack of consequences for the settlers fits with a broader government strategy to accumulate land claimed by Palestinians for a future state. It's not a coincidence. It's quite clear for many people in Israel. This is actually the policy of the government. Hani Oday is the former mayor of Kusra. He says the government's goal is clear. They want us to go to Jordan. They consider Jordan as the Palestinian homeland. The siege in Kusra is not unique. A couple of miles away, Mahmoud Tabasi tells me how settlers blockaded his two family homes for 23 days.

4:37They started throwing stones day and night on the walls, on the windows, on the doors, just to disturb us. The settlers took control of his homes, only to be kicked out by the military, who are still there. You can see them walking the rooftops of Tubasi's homes on a live feed that plays on a TV in his father's kitchen. I asked him, Why is the army allowed to live in your house? Because I'm weak and he's strong. Back in Khosra, Aburidi sent NPR videos of the settlers chatting with soldiers, driving past his house on ATVs. One appeared to make an obscene gesture. Aburidi says he's concerned that when the media moves on, the military will pull out and the settlers will return.

5:22Frank Lankford, NPR News, Khosra, in the Occupied West Bank.

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6:11This week on Up First, the midterms and the Middle East. We're tracking major primary elections in Florida, Alaska, and Wyoming. And abroad, the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, pursues a peace plan in Gaza. Plus, the U.S.-Iran ceasefire hits a crucial 60-day deadline. Stay caught up on the week's biggest stories with Up First. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.