Israeli settlers' siege of Palestinian homes draws a sharp U.S. rebuke

For five nights, Israeli settlers surrounded three Palestinian homes on the outskirts of a town in the occupied West Bank, preventing the families from leaving safely as their food and water supplies dwindled.
"Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting."
"Too much pressure eventually causes an explosion."
"This is not a life that can continue this way."
"It's a cycle."
"They need to be prevented from the entire area, not just removed and moved 100 feet away."
"The era of withdrawals and expulsions has ended. The era of construction and Zionism begins."
The standoff in Qusra is described as the latest in a wave of settler violence convulsing the West Bank, seized by Israel in the 1967 war.
On Tuesday Israel's military condemned the siege as "illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable" and declared Qusra a closed military zone. On Thursday, troops dismantled "two illegal outposts" and detained one Israeli.