On 9th August, Israeli settlers surrounded three Palestinian homes in Ras al-Ayn, on the edge of the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, and did not leave. Twenty-one days later at least four people were still inside one house, cut off from water, electricity and supplies. Getting food to the villagers was an arduous process that could take at least three to four days. Instead of removing the settlers, the Israeli army erected three new roadblocks nearby. The siege continued.
The official framing from the Israeli state, repeated often in western media, is that this is fringe behaviour. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qusra siege as “criminal acts of violence” by “a handful of rioters who are violating the law”. President Isaac Herzog and the foreign ministry issued similar statements.
It is a framing that the UK has now, in effect, written into policy. On 8th September the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, launched what he had trailed a week earlier as a “comprehensive reset” of UK policy on Israel. The announcement included a ban on goods from illegal settlements; sanctions on those who build, finance and market them; sanctions on settlers who incite violence; and a refusal of new arms export licences that “materially contribute to the occupation.”
This op-ed was published by Prospect on October 8, 2026. To read more click here
