For the 12th consecutive day, three Palestinian families, comprising 10 people, including two young children, have been trapped inside their homes in the occupied West Bank, besieged and terrorized by dozens of armed Israelis—both settlers and soldiers. The family members have been stuck in separate homes, unable to shelter together or attend to their basic needs, with food supplies running dangerously low and without access to cooking gas or a fridge.
While the siege on the three families has garnered international media attention and statements of condemnation, the attack is not the first of its kind, but rather a more prominent example of a growing tactic by Israeli settlers and soldiers working in tandem to dispossess Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank. The attacks are increasingly focused on Palestinian communities in Area B, a designation under the Oslo Accords where the Palestinian Authority is nominally in charge of civil administration while Israel retains security control.
The latest Israeli siege targeted a small cluster of Palestinian homes that sit atop a hill on the edge of the village of Qusra, in the southern part of the Nablus governorate in the northern West Bank.
On the morning of August 9, armed settlers blocked off the only road leading to the homes and erected a colonial outpost directly in front of the door of one of the houses. They began pelting the homes with rocks and trying to break inside on a regular basis.
The Israeli Siege of Palestinian Families in Qusra Is Part of an Escalating Tactic
‘We are starving’: Palestinians besieged by settlers in West Bank homes run out of food
Palestinians trapped in their homes by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank town of Qusra are running out of food as the siege enters its 12th day.
Aisha Hassan, who is sheltering in one of three surrounded homes south of Nablus with her mother and brother, said they were “starving”.
Israeli soldiers arrived last week, ostensibly to remove the settlers, but have since effectively contributed to the siege by blocking food deliveries to the families.
“The municipal council tried to bring us food, but the soldiers prevented them, and the food was left outside,” Hassan told Middle East Eye.
“Unicef staff were able to deliver some food to us a few days ago, and now it’s starting to spoil.”
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Cook Political Report moving 4 of 5 gubernatorial races toward Democrats
The nonpartisan on Friday shifted its ratings in five gubernatorial races, moving all but one race in favor of Democrats, as the left gains momentum in several key states ahead of November.
Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors’ editor for the report, wrote that Democrats are finding themselves uniquely competitive in several red-leaning states, benefiting from a “favorable national climate” and “unique Democratic recruits.”
The biggest changes came in Arizona and Ohio; the governor’s race in the Grand Canyon State moved from “toss up” to “lean Democrat,” and in the Buckeye State — which is currently led by Gov. Mike DeWine (R) — the race shifted from “lean Republican” to a “toss up.”
In Arizona, the report cited Gov. Katie Hobbs’s (D) fundraising advantage over likely Republican nominee Rep. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), as well as her relatively strong approval ratings as reasons for moving the race into the Democratic column.
Small plane carrying 8 people crashes in western Alaska
A small plane carrying eight people crashed Aug. 20 in a remote part of western Alaska, the Federal Aviation Administration told USA TODAY.
The Cessna 441 departed Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and was headed to Cape Newenham, a remote area in western Alaska, when it crashed at around 12:15 p.m. local time, an FAA spokesperson said. The condition of the eight people aboard was not immediately known.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the crash. The agency said the NTSB will lead the probe.
USA TODAY reached out to the NTSB and the U.S. Coast Guard for comment.
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Progressive Aisha Wahab wins California special election to fill Eric Swalwell seat
Progressive Aisha Wahab has been elected to Congress in a special election following a bitter intra-party battle over the seat formerly held by Eric Swalwell, who resigned in April after facing sexual misconduct allegations. Swalwell has denied the allegations.
Wahab, a state senator, was widely considered the frontrunner in the district in California’s East Bay and had the backing of the state Democratic party as well as Our Revolution, labor unions, local officials and the state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta.
She won the primary for the special election for the final months of Swalwell’s term by more than 20 points over Melissa Hernandez, the president of the board of directors for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) agency.
“I will fight for this district that raised me,” Wahab said in a statement on Thursday. “From foster care to Congress, this journey shows the possibility of the American Dream.”
While Wahab held a major lead throughout the race, Hernandez’s campaign received a significant boost as Super Pacs connected to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) poured money into the race.
White House faces scrutiny over top Trump aide Natalie Harp – live
Natalie Harp, special assistant to Donald Trump, continues to be the focus of media attention Thursday after an MS Now report revealed that she had worked at the White House for nearly a year without obtaining a security clearance.
Harp, a former One America News Network show host, has emerged as a key gatekeeper to the president. Her presence with Trump when the president left Air Force One as a decoy while sneaking on to another plane in a service cart – even as senior officials remained behind – drew attention.
Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator from Georgia, amplified that attention with comments at a rally Sunday in Atlanta. Speaking of Trump, Ossoff said: “He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job; he wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”
A clip of his commentary went viral on social media, drawing attacks from the president’s defenders.
White House communications director Steven Cheung posted in reply on X: “Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics,” while White House spokesman Davis Ingle posted, “Jon Ossoff is a cringeworthy, feminine theatre kid cosplaying as Barack Obama. Nobody gives a shit what this lightweight loser says.”
White House faces scrutiny over top Trump aide Natalie Harp – live
Natalie Harp, special assistant to Donald Trump, continues to be the focus of media attention Thursday after an MS Now report revealed that she had worked at the White House for nearly a year without obtaining a security clearance.
Harp, a former One America News Network show host, has emerged as a key gatekeeper to the president. Her presence with Trump when the president left Air Force One as a decoy while sneaking on to another plane in a service cart – even as senior officials remained behind – drew attention.
Jon Ossoff, a Democratic senator from Georgia, amplified that attention with comments at a rally Sunday in Atlanta. Speaking of Trump, Ossoff said: “He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job; he wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.”
A clip of his commentary went viral on social media, drawing attacks from the president’s defenders.
White House communications director Steven Cheung posted in reply on X: “Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics,” while White House spokesman Davis Ingle posted, “Jon Ossoff is a cringeworthy, feminine theatre kid cosplaying as Barack Obama. Nobody gives a shit what this lightweight loser says.”
As the world fixates on Hamas, who will disarm the Israeli settlers storming West Bank villages?
In Qusra, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian families have spent August imprisoned inside their own homes.
Israeli settlers pitched tents in their yards and cut them off from the outside world. Water and electricity were severed. Food ran short.
Armed men gathered outside, smashed windows, threw stones, and stole appliances. Inside, parents tried to calm frightened children, never knowing whether the next sound at the door would be the start of another attack.
In one home, Qusai Abu Rida was trapped with his teenage son. Thousands of miles away in Ohio, his brother Loai watched through security cameras as settlers surrounded the house - until Israeli soldiers removed the camera.
Nearby, Ruqaya Hassan endured the siege with her children, among them four-year-old Kinda, who she said were living in fear.
Elsewhere in Qusra, Marmar Ouda has effectively turned his home into a cage to protect his family. Metal fencing surrounds the house, and bars cover the windows. Nearby, someone spray-painted in Hebrew: “Death to Arabs.”
Five months earlier, Ouda says a settler shot dead his nephew and wounded his brother in front of him. He complained to Israeli police, but the attacks continued.
Trump envoy 'deeply concerned' by Israeli strikes on Syrian air base
US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack defended the Syrian government on Tuesday after Israeli air strikes targeted the Abu al-Duhur military air base in northern Syria, calling it an "unnecessary escalation".
"The Al-Sharaa government has neither adopted a predatory posture nor maintained proxy forces. It has, in fact, repeatedly indicated a preference for de-escalation with Israel," he wrote on X.
"We are deeply concerned," he added. "[This] does not advance regional stability."
Israel has not confirmed it was behind the attack, but Barrack said it was responsible.
His comments followed a meeting with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani in Istanbul, Turkey, one day earlier.
The Syrian government condemned the attack and said eight strikes hit the runway of the defunct air base in the early morning hours of Tuesday, local time.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes followed a visit by a Turkish military delegation to the airfield in recent days "as part of efforts to reactivate it".
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