U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned Israeli settlers against taking homes or land belonging to Palestinian Americans in the occupied West Bank, saying that forcing people from property they own violates both basic standards of conduct and religious law.
Huckabee made some strong comments in an interview with Reuters on Thursday, as an international controversy grows over a confrontation in the West Bank village of Qusra, where settlers have surrounded several Palestinian homes, including one belonging to Palestinian American Loui Ridi.
“You don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you,” Huckabee told Reuters.
Invoking the Ten Commandments, he added: “Thou shalt not steal.” Huckabee said that if settlers took over someone’s home and frightened the family away, it would be “a violation, not just of man’s law” but also “a violation of God’s law.”
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned militant Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank not to steal property owned by Palestinian Americans, describing such behavior as ‘a violation of God’s law’ https://t.co/DNpmD2098E pic.twitter.com/4peA1ZtMpT
— Reuters (@Reuters) August 20, 2026
The United States was “appalled” by what happened in Qusra and that settlers found to have participated could face significant consequences in Israel and potentially U.S. sanctions, including restrictions on entering the United States.
He said he was not aware of any such sanctions currently under consideration.
Huckabee recently also called the siege of houses a “horrific act of terror.”
Qusra becomes a test case
The confrontation began on August 9, when settlers established themselves around Palestinian homes in Qusra in what rights groups described as an attempt to take control of privately owned Palestinian land. Israeli forces subsequently moved into the area and pushed the settlers away from the homes, although residents have remained concerned about renewed encroachment once troops leave.
The episode has drawn unusually sharp criticism from within Israel’s settlement movement itself. Yisrael Ganz, chairman of the Yesha Council, the umbrella organization for West Bank settlement authorities, said the events in Qusra were “severe and are not our way.” He said there was no justification for establishing an outpost in the courtyard of a Palestinian home or for violence against civilians or security forces.
‘Thou shalt not steal’: US envoy tells settlers, in fresh condemnation of West Bank home siegehttps://t.co/YDN3ip7POa
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) August 20, 2026
Ganz nevertheless defended the broader settlement project and called for its continued expansion, illustrating the distinction between opposition to the tactics used in Qusra and opposition to Israeli settlements themselves.
That distinction is also evident in Huckabee’s position. The diplomat has long been a strong supporter of Israeli settlements and uses the biblical term “Judea and Samaria” for the West Bank. In the interview, the American diplomat said violent settlers represent a small minority and should not be regarded as representative of the wider settler population.
Haaretz, meanwhile, has highlighted the unusual position Huckabee now occupies: a prominent supporter of the settlement movement who has sharply condemned the Qusra perpetrators.
UN warning
The United Nations has independently raised concerns over the Qusra confrontation.
The U.N. human rights office said on August 13 that settler encroachments and attacks on Palestinian homes had gone “beyond boiling point.” Its concerns included Palestinian families in Qusra who had been trapped inside their homes while access to basic necessities was disrupted. The U.N. said the situation raised serious concerns about efforts to displace Palestinians from their land.
The world body has continued to warn more broadly about settlement expansion and settler violence. On Thursday, Secretary-General António Guterres again called on Israel to halt settlement plans in the occupied West Bank, while the U.N. said new settlement activity threatened the territorial integrity of the West Bank and the prospects for a two-state solution.
The U.N. position adds an important dimension to the Qusra dispute: the issue is not being treated simply as a confrontation between individual settlers and Palestinian residents, but also seen as part of a wider pattern involving settlement expansion, property rights and the potential displacement of Palestinian communities.
A wider escalation
Israeli media have placed the Qusra confrontation within a broader increase in settler attacks and attempts to establish new outposts in Palestinian areas. The Times of Israel has reported that settler violence has increased sharply this year, while arrests and prosecutions have remained comparatively rare.
The case also carries particular diplomatic significance because Ridi is a Palestinian American. Huckabee’s warning therefore goes beyond a general condemnation of settler violence: he is telling Israeli settlers that attempts to take property belonging to American citizens could potentially have consequences for their ability to enter the United States.
U.K., Germany, France urge Israel to scrap E1 settlement plans in West Bank https://t.co/WxYQIXDP34
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) August 20, 2026
For residents of Qusra, however, the immediate question is more practical — whether Palestinian families will be able to remain in homes they say they legally own once Israeli troops withdraw, and whether authorities will hold accountable those accused of trying to force them out.
Huckabee’s message was unusually blunt for an ambassador who supports the settlement movement itself: property cannot be taken simply because those seeking it believe they have a religious or territorial claim to it.
Muhammad Luqman is Associate Editor at Views News Now. He writes on wide-ranging issues including economy, South Asia, the Middle East, agriculture, economy and innovation. Luqman has worked some of the leading news organizations and won acclaim for his original and research-based works.
