France has called on Israel to arrest and prosecute rogue illegal settlers blockading Palestinian homes at Qusra in the occupied West Bank and to protect the civilian population, as Italy was also closely monitoring the situation, with at least five Italians reported to be under the settler siege.
"France condemns in the strongest possible terms the occupation of several Palestinian homes in the village of Qusra in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, as well as the acts of violence committed against Palestinian civilians," the French foreign ministry said on Friday.
"It calls on the Israeli authorities to arrest and bring to justice those responsible for these acts."
Italy is closely monitoring the situation in Qusra, which has been under siege by Israeli illegal settlers for five consecutive days, while five Italians were also reported to be under siege, ANSA news agency reported.
The Italian foreign ministry confirmed that five Italian nationals were also in Qusra.
The five Italians, four women and one man, were reportedly inside isolated homes.
Illegal Israeli settlers at Qusra near Nablus began blockading Palestinian homes on Sunday and have defied attempts to remove them, with residents saying they have been cut off from food and other supplies.
The siege has also drawn unusually sharp criticism from Israel’s ally the US.
France, on its part, stressed that acts of violence committed by settlers kept increasing in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
"France reiterates its condemnation of Israel's settlement policy, which threatens the two-state solution and fuels tensions on the ground," the foreign ministry said.
The ministry is in coordination with its embassy in Tel Aviv as well as its crisis unit.
Attacks by Israeli illegal settlers against Palestinians and their property have intensified across the occupied West Bank since Israel’s Gaza genocide, prompting Palestinian and international warnings over the growing seizure of land and homes and the displacement of residents.
