A Palestinian-American whose home in the occupied West Bank has been encircled by armed settlers for over a week departed Detroit for the Palestinian territory on Sunday (August 16) as he seeks to gain access to his besieged home.
Jewish settlers have effectively trapped Palestinian families inside three houses on the outskirts of the village of Qusra since August 9. One of the homes belongs to Loui Ridi, a Palestinian-American who lives in Ohio.
Ridi embraced his family at Detroit Metro Airport on Sunday before departing for Tel Aviv. From there, he was expected to try to travel to Qusra, where his house sits in an area declared by Israel as a “closed military zone”.
Israel’s military has described the settlers’ actions as “reprehensible” but has failed to clear them from outside Ridi’s home.
The West Bank, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, has seen a surge in settler attacks against Palestinians in recent years and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government has spearheaded a massive expansion of settlement construction.
The territory is home to some 3 million Palestinians and 500,000 Israeli settlers. United Nations bodies and most countries seek the settlements illegal under international law regarding military occupations. Israel disputes this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.
