Settlers attacked homes in Qusrah and fired at village residents who tried to fend them off, killing one, injuring two, and beating and stabbing another

On Saturday, 14 March 2026, at around 3:45 P.M., a group of settlers went to the western outskirts of the village of Qusrah in Nablus District and began attacking homes with stones. The settlers also fired several shots at residents. Village residents contacted the Palestinian DCO and the police, and shortly afterwards a military force arrived, including two military jeeps and a white vehicle. The settlers backed away in the direction of the outpost of Tel Talpiyot, which was set up this year in an area known as Jabal ‘Ein ‘Ayna. The military force drove after them.

At around 4:30 P.M., about 20 to 30 settlers came to the western outskirts of the village again, some carrying clubs and slingshots and others firearms. The settlers began throwing stones at the home of Marmar ‘Odeh, 50, and the neighboring homes of his two sons. They smashed windows in them, vandalized two family cars and destroyed other property. Residents again called the police and contacted the Palestinian DCO, but no one came. The settlers tried unsuccessfully to break into a vacant home, and then went back in the direction of the outpost and stopped at a junction about 170 meters away from the village homes.

At this point, about 10 village residents who had heard about the attack arrived, including Mu‘tasem ‘Odeh, 46, and his son Amir, 28. At around 5:00 P.M., some of the residents advanced towards the settlers. When they were about 100 meters away from the settlers, after mutual stone-throwing, the settlers opened live fire at the residents. The shots hit Amir ‘Odeh in the chest and two other residents in the legs. Amir fell immediately, and his father Mu’tasem, who rushed over to him, was attacked by the settlers, who beat him on the head with a stick until he lost consciousness, and then stabbed him in both legs. The settlers also beat the wounded Amir with clubs. They then left the scene, and residents took father and son to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, where Amir was pronounced dead.

B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb‘i collected testimonies from people who were at the scene of the incident on 16 March 2026:

Marmar ‘Odeh, 50, a father of six and resident of Qusrah, related in his testimony:

On Saturday, 14 March 2026, at around 3:40 P.M., while I was at my house in the area known as al-Qarq on the western side of the village, near ‘Ein Qusrah, I saw settlers attacking two houses next to us with stones and also heard several gunshots. My son Muhammad, 29, immediately called the Palestinian DCO and the Israeli police.

After about half an hour, two Israeli jeeps and a white vehicle arrived, but just then the settlers started backing away towards the new outpost that was established at the beginning of the year on Jabal ‘Ein ‘Ayna, and the military vehicles also drove towards the outpost and didn’t stop at all by the houses that had been damaged.

At around 4:30 P.M., the military vehicles returned and stopped at the junction between the dirt road leading to Talfit and the dirt road the settlers use to reach the outpost, about 50 meters from my house. They stayed there for a few minutes and then drove away.

I went out to feed my sheep in the pen next to the house, and then my son Muhammad came and shouted to me, and I understood that something was wrong. He told me to go back inside quickly because the settlers were back. We went inside right away and locked the yard gate and the house doors. I went up to the third floor of the house to watch what was happening.

I then saw a group of 25 to 30 settlers attacking Khaldun ‘Odeh’s house, which is to the east of ours. They vandalized three vehicles in front of his house. I called my brother Mu‘tasem, 46, right away and asked him to come over, because the settlers were very close to our house. Mu‘tasem and I are very close, and I named my son after him. My son Mu‘tasem and my brother Mu‘tasem’s daughter are married and live next to me. My son Muhammad called the police and the Palestinian DCO again.

The settlers continued advancing towards my house and my son Mu‘tasem’s house. They tried to force the doors open and when they failed, they attacked the houses with stones. They smashed five windows in my house, and two windows and the water meter in Mu‘tasem’s house, as well as the windows of my two sons’ cars. They also tore the plastic cover of a strawberry greenhouse next to my house, then tried to break into a nearby house belonging to Yasser Wishah, which is currently vacant, but didn’t succeed. In the end, they headed west towards the outpost.

At that point, two young men from the village arrived. I climbed down from the roof and went out to the street together with Muhammadt. In the meantime, my sons Mu‘tasem, 26, and Ahmad, 24, who’d been in the village, also arrived. The settlers were already about 100 meters away from us, at the junction between the dirt roads. I saw a white pickup truck and an ATV there as well.

I tried to calm the young men down and asked them not to go there, but some of them went in that direction, and then I heard a volley of shots. I saw three people lying on the ground, and another guy came over to me, wounded in the thigh. Afterwards, the young men brought another guy, Islam ‘Odeh, who was wounded in both legs. I helped carry the two guys to a car, in which they were taken away for medical treatment.

Then I saw Anwar, 26, my brother Mu‘tasem’s son, shouting: “Amir is dead and my father is wounded!” and I realized that the other wounded people were my brother Mu‘tasem and his son Amir. I saw the young men carry them to a car that took them to the village medical center. All my sons went to the village medical center and from there to Rafidya Hospital, and I broke down, unable to believe what happened. They killed my nephew and wounded my brother when they came to help us.

Mu‘tasem ‘Odeh, 46, a father of six, including Amir, related in his testimony:

On Saturday, 14 March 2026, at around 5:00 P.M., I was at a hummus place downtown with my son Amir, 28, and his son Aws, 3. We bought hummus and falafel to take for the iftar meal at my daughter’s house, in the western part of the village, near the new outpost that settlers established on Jabal ‘Ein ‘Ayna between our village and Talfit.

While we were there, my brother Marmar, 50, called and told me that settlers were attacking their house. I immediately drove there and parked my car next to one of the houses, about 50 meters away from Marmar’s home. Amir and I left Aws with the people in that house and ran towards my brother’s.

When we got there, the settlers were done with their attack and had moved away. They smashed several windows in my brother’s house and in his sons’ houses, broke the water meter and damaged two cars, and then withdrew towards the Qusrah-Talfit road, which also leads to the outpost. I went ahead a bit to get a view of them and saw about 25 to 30 settlers about 100 meters away. There were also a white pickup truck and an ATV there. The settlers were masked and holding sticks.

We ran into two young guys from our village who had apparently arrived before us, Islam ‘Odeh, 30, and Zein Kan’an, 21. I also saw my brother Marmar and his sons. There were no more than 10 of us there. When the settlers saw us, they fired several live shots, and my son Amir was hit and fell down. He was about two meters to my left.

I tried to go over to him, and suddenly I felt a strong blow to my head. I saw a heavyset masked settler in white clothes, and after that I don’t know what happened. I blacked out and woke up in an ambulance on the way to Rafidya Hospital. I asked them what happened because I couldn’t remember anything, and they told me I’d been attacked by settlers.

I felt severe pain all over my body and couldn’t move. I didn’t care about anything except my son Amir. I remembered seeing him lying on the ground after the shooting. They told me he was fine, but after I arrived at the hospital, they told me he was dead. It was terrible news that broke me. He wasn’t just my son. He was also my friend and work partner. We work together growing strawberries, and he was married and had two kids, ages 3 and 1.

It turned out I’d been stabbed twice in my right leg and twice in my left leg, and also beaten on various parts of my body. They took me into surgery because of a torn tendon in my right leg caused by the stabbing.

I came out of surgery after about four hours, and in the morning, I left the hospital and brought my son Amir’s body with me to bury him in the village cemetery. I carried him to the ambulance on my shoulders, together with other relatives. After the funeral, I returned to the hospital for further treatment. I’m still suffering from severe pain, and I’ve lost sensation in my right leg and can’t move it. The doctor said I’ll need another operation on this leg.

Anwar ‘Odeh, 26, a father of three and Amir’s brother, related in his testimony:

On Saturday, 14 March 2026, at around 5:00 P.M., while I was in the village, my cousin ‘Amer Muntasser ‘Odeh called and told me that settlers were attacking my uncle Marmar ‘Odeh’s house. I immediately drove there in my car and arrived within a few minutes. I parked the car nearby and continued on foot.

I got to my uncle Marmar’s house after the settlers had already attacked it, along with the nearby greenhouse and my cousin Muhammad’s aluminum business. They had backed away to about 100 to 150 meters from the house. I saw my father and my brother Amir, who had already arrived before me, as well as my uncle and his sons and two other guys from the village. The settlers were masked and holding clubs, slingshots and stones. They threw stones at us, and one of the guys threw stones back at them. Right after that, the settlers charged at us, and I heard gunfire. I saw one of them shooting at us.

I turned around to run away, ran a few steps and then looked back and saw my brother Amir lying on the ground. At that moment, the settlers were already close to my father. One of them hit him on the head with a stick, and about five of them attacked him and beat him with clubs until he fell to the ground. I saw him trying to get up, leaning on his hands and knees, and then one of the settlers, who was holding a knife or a dagger, stabbed him a few times in his legs, and I heard him shout, “Die, die.” At the same time, I saw another group of settlers beating my brother Amir with clubs and kicking him.

I was about five to eight meters away from them. I looked around me and saw no one. Everyone had already run away, and only my father and brother remained on the ground. I started throwing stones at the settlers to drive them away. I noticed that Amir was not responding at all, not moving, and I realized that he had been killed. I shouted and called for help, and I heard one of the settlers say, “He’s dead, he’s dead,” and then they left.

I ran to my father and tried to lift him, but he was unconscious, and I couldn’t do it. I dragged him a bit, laid him on the ground and ran to get a car. I saw my cousin and asked him to bring a car. I told him that Amir had been killed and my father was wounded. One of my cousins brought a car, and we put my father in it. Then I went back to Amir, and the guys took him to another car and drove to the village medical center.

I was exhausted from the effort and fear. I got into another car with one of the residents and we drove to the village medical center, where they tried to resuscitate Amir and told me to pray for him. Afterwards, they transferred him to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus.

Islam ‘Odeh, 29 and married, related in his testimony:

After Amir ‘Odeh was shot and fell to the ground, the settlers started running towards us, holding wooden sticks. Amir was lying on the ground about 20 to 25 meters away from me. His father was close to him and tried to reach him, but one of the settlers struck him on the head with a stick.

I couldn’t just stand by and took a few steps forward to help, but then a settler armed with an M16 rifle shot four bullets at me from only about 20 meters away. I immediately fell to the ground and couldn’t stand up. My legs wouldn’t carry me. I looked and saw blood around my knees. I started shouting for help.

I saw a group of about four to five settlers attacking Mu‘tasem, beating him with clubs and stabbing him with knives, while at the same time, another group of settlers was beating Amir, who was lying on the ground, with clubs. I was scared they’d get to me too and kill me, so I crawled back a bit.

Afterwards, two guys came, lifted me up and took me to a car that drove me to the village medical center. Amir, who had been shot in the chest and I heard people say had been killed, his father, who was also wounded, and Zein Bassem Kan’an, 21, who had been shot in the thigh, were also evacuated there.

Later, they transferred us to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, where they ran tests and X-rays on me, and it turned out that two bullets had hit both my knees, with an entry and exit wound in each knee. The doctor decided to operate on me, and I went into surgery the next day. I’m still being treated at Rafidya Hospital.