U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned militant Israeli settlers against seizing properties owned by Palestinian Americans in the occupied West Bank, calling such actions "a violation of God's law" and raising the prospect of U.S. sanctions against those responsible.
Huckabee, a Baptist minister and the first evangelical Christian to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel, told Reuters in a Jerusalem interview that settlers found to have taken part in the ongoing siege of homes in the West Bank village of Qusra could face consequences both in Israel and from Washington.
"Thou shalt not steal," Huckabee said, citing the Ten Commandments. "You don't take something that doesn't belong to you."
The remarks come as Israeli settlers have encircled at least three homes in Qusra since Aug. 9 in what human rights groups describe as an attempt to seize privately owned Palestinian land. Among the properties targeted is a home belonging to Loui Ridi, a Palestinian American from Toledo, Ohio, who flew to the West Bank last week to defend his property after watching settlers encircle it via security camera from the United States.
The Israeli military has deployed troops to the area and pushed the settlers back from the homes, but Ridi told Reuters from Qusra on Thursday that settlers remain nearby and that he continues to be harassed. Israeli police have not announced any arrests in connection with the siege, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not publicly commented on the incident.
A growing crisis for Palestinian communities
The Qusra siege reflects a broader pattern of escalating settler activity across the West Bank that has affected Palestinian communities of all backgrounds — Muslim and Christian alike. Christians make up a small but historic portion of the Palestinian population, with communities in and around Bethlehem, Ramallah and other West Bank towns that have faced land pressures from settlement expansion for decades.
U.N. bodies and the vast majority of countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal under international law governing military occupations. Israel rejects that characterization, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied. Despite international objections, the settlement enterprise has expanded continuously, with the Netanyahu government accelerating construction and territorial designations in recent years.
U.S. officials estimate that tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans live in the West Bank, many of them in a cluster of villages between Ramallah and Nablus, the region where Qusra is located.
Huckabee, who last week described the perpetrators as "Israeli terrorists," said the families targeted in Qusra were victims of "inexcusable and repugnant" criminal activity. He said anyone found to have participated could face significant legal consequences in Israel, and potentially U.S. sanctions including a ban on entering the country, though he added he was not aware that any such measures were under active consideration.
Huckabee's position carries tensions
The ambassador's condemnation is notable given his long and public record of support for Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Huckabee refers to the territory by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term used by the Israeli government but not formally adopted by the U.S. government.
In the same interview, he offered a qualified defense of the broader settlement movement, telling Reuters that violent settlers represent a minority who do not speak for settlers in general, who he said "just want to raise their families in Judea and Samaria peacefully and with a level of security."
Palestinians and international legal bodies reject that framing. Critics argue that settlements — regardless of the behavior of individual settlers — systematically displace Palestinian communities, fragment territory Palestinians seek for an independent state, and are maintained through military enforcement.
A senior settler leader has separately condemned the actions taken against the Qusra homes, according to Reuters.
Ridi built his home on land his grandparents owned and his family farmed for generations, beginning construction three years ago. He told Reuters he wanted his daughters to have a connection to their roots in Qusra. He said his property sits in an area that Israeli-Palestinian peace accords reached in the 1990s placed under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.
"The message is bigger than just even the Trump administration," Huckabee said. "It's a message of basic civility and civilized behavior."
