U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee issued a rare rebuke of Israeli settlers this week, calling a recent siege of homes in the occupied West Bank, including one owned by a Palestinian American, a “horrific act of terror.”
Typically a fierce defender of Israel and its settlers in the West Bank, Huckabee took an unusually stern position against the recent violence against Palestinian residents of Qusra village in a post on X.
“Actions by those who carried out this horrific act of terror meant to intimidate and harass this family are disgusting,” Huckabee wrote Thursday. “No excuse for such thuggish behavior.”
Huckabee was referring to Israeli settlers who trapped two Palestinian families inside their respective homes over the weekend, according to The Guardian and the BBC. Settlers also reportedly shut off their water and power supplies.
Qusra’s mayor, Abdel Azim Wadi, told the BBC that local residents had seen “a clear and sustained pattern of targeting” of their village in recent months.
Huckabee, who was appointed to his post by President Donald Trump last year, said Thursday that the Israeli military and police are working “to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this” at the request of the United States.
The Trump administration has offered broad support for Israeli settlers in the West Bank and has rolled back sanctions imposed under the Biden administration that sought to curb settler violence.
In an interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson in February, Huckabee said it would be “fine” if Israel “took it all,” referring to land between the Nile River in Egypt and the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq, which a biblical verse says God promised to Abraham and his descendants. The remarks drew swift condemnation from Arab leaders and human rights advocacy groups.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed last month that his government would expand settler outposts in the West Bank. Many countries view the settlements as a violation of international law. Israeli settlements have continued to expand in the West Bank despite a 2024 nonbinding ruling by the United Nations’ top court that Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful.
The death toll from the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza surpassed 73,000 in June despite a ceasefire reached in October 2025, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. At the same time, violence in the West Bank has surged, with Israeli forces or settlers having killed at least 76 Palestinians, including 18 children, so far in 2026, according to the United Nations.
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Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.
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