Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu broke his silence on Saturday about the ongoing wave of extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, but downplayed it as the act of a “handful of rioters,” stressing it didn’t represent the broader settler public.

He issued the remarks after dozens of settlers attacked the West Bank village of Qusra and took over a Palestinian home while the family was inside. The military was called to clear the settlers from the home, but as of late Saturday night, no arrests appeared to have been made, and Palestinians reported being targeted with tear gas by the Israel Defense Forces.

Violence also broke out elsewhere in the West Bank on Saturday, including in Jalud where settlers were filmed attacking journalists.

In his statement, Netanyahu said the individuals who took over the home were a “handful of rioters” who are “causing a huge injustice to the law-abiding settler public, hindering the IDF in fulfilling its missions, and harming Israel’s standing in the world.”

“Security forces are working quickly, seized three vehicles, and brought an end to the incident within a short time,” Netanyahu claimed. He did not address the fact that no one was arrested.

Despite Netanyahu’s statement, the Haaretz daily reported that the three vehicles seized by security forces were not the cars used by settlers in the attack.

The premier has made similar claims in the past about the nature of settler attacks on Palestinians, asserting in December that violent settlers numbered just some 70 youths who, he said, were not even from the West Bank. In July, however, he revised that figure upward to 150 “juvenile delinquents,” who he claimed were “brought into the West Bank.”

However, activists on the ground have said those behind the attacks are Israelis who have established illegal outposts throughout the West Bank in record numbers over the past three years. Netanyahu’s government has provided significant funding and protection to these wildcat communities, which critics say are being used as a tool to dispossess Palestinians of their lands.

Qusra, located southeast of Nablus, has been the target of a wave of recent settler attacks, including a weeks-long siege on a number of Palestinian homes, which has drawn international attention to the village and has caused a prolonged military deployment in the area, which has itself led to the forced displacement of several Palestinian families from their homes.

The army says its forces have maintained a presence in the area to prevent settlers from rebuilding makeshift structures and again blocking access to the residents’ homes.

Footage from Saturday’s settler raid on the village showed that IDF soldiers were in the area when it occurred, but that they stood by and allowed the rampaging extremists to attack a home on the outskirts of the town.

בתיעוד המטריד הבא מקוסרה היום – נראים חיילים עומדים לצד המבנה לעברו המתנחלים מיידים אבנים, ולא עושים דבר . בהמשך התיעוד נראים המתנחלים נכנסים דרך החלון לתוך המבנה. החיילים נותרים במקומם. כאמור, הפורעים לא נעצרו.החיילים מאידך בחרו לעצור דווקא את תושבי הבית שהותקף. לגבי… pic.twitter.com/6v0FuzSIkQ Advertisement — Matan Golan (@MatanGolanPhoto) August 29, 2026

בתיעוד המטריד הבא מקוסרה היום –........

© The Times of Israel