Israeli forces block activists from reaching besieged Qusra families

About 15 Palestinians, including two children, have been trapped in three homes in Qusra for nearly a week as settlers block access to the area.Israeli forces have prevented Israeli and foreign activists from reaching Palestinian families whose homes have been surrounded by settlers for nearly a week in the occupied West Bank town of Qusra, south of Nablus.The activists were trying to deliver food and water to three homes in the Ras al-Ain area on Friday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 411-year-old boy shot by Israeli forces in Gazalist 2 of 4Israel vows to keep troops in Lebanon, Gaza and Syrialist 3 of 4Israel trucks out Gaza’s rubble to ‘hide genocide’ and ‘redraw the map’list 4 of 4Israel’s Katz hails settlers for ‘holding onto’ Palestinian landend of listAl Jazeera’s Laith Jaar, reporting from Qusra, said that Israeli forces brought in reinforcements and stopped members of the Israeli group Peace Now from reaching the families after declaring the area a closed military zone.Qusra Mayor Abdel Azim Wadi told Wafa that Israeli forces had also forced Italian activists who managed to reach the homes earlier in the week to leave.Families cut off from basic suppliesSettlers began surrounding the homes earlier this week, blocking roads with stones, erecting a tent nearby, and preventing residents from entering or leaving freely.Water and electricity supplies to the homes have also been cut.About 15 Palestinians, including two children, are living in the three homes and have struggled to obtain basic supplies, according to the United Nations.The UN said they were “trapped inside their homes in a state of terror, unable to attend to their basic needs and without access to water or electricity”.Israeli forces entered the area a day earlier and ordered the families to temporarily leave their homes. The residents refused to leave the area and instead gathered in one of the three houses, fearing their homes could be taken over if abandoned.