Israeli troops clash with settlers besieging Palestinian homes in West Bank

QUSRA, West Bank, Aug 12 - Israeli troops clashed with Jewish settlers on Wednesday while trying to disperse them from a West Bank outpost they set up directly in front of Palestinian homes, and later withdrew from the area after failing to clear the settlers, witnesses said.

The incident on the outskirts of the Palestinian village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank marked a rare confrontation between settlers and the military and comes amid a sharp increase in settler land seizures and attacks on Palestinians.

The military has come under increasing pressure to halt rogue land seizures by settlers emboldened by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has spearheaded a rapid expansion of settlements in the territory.

Offering some of its sharpest criticism of such land seizures to date, the military in a statement late on Tuesday described the Qusra outpost as "illegal, reprehensible, and unacceptable activity that harms the residents of the areas and disrupts their daily lives."

However, when troops deployed to the area to attempt to disperse the settlers on Wednesday morning, clashes broke out between the settlers and the troops, who deployed tear gas against the settlers, witnesses said and video reviewed by Reuters showed.

The army removed the cover of one of the outpost's tents and then withdrew from the area, after which the settlers tried to break the gate to one of the Palestinian homes, witnesses said.

Aysha Hassan, a Palestinian woman who lives in one of the three besieged homes, said settlers set the outpost up four days ago and that the Palestinians have been effectively trapped there since.

"They tried to break the gate," to the house, Hassan said, "and started throwing stones at us, cursing and insulting us."

"We (are) dying of fear, extremely terrified."

The military said in a statement on Wednesday that border police forces "evacuated the tent and are working to evacuate the civilians who were staying there," referring to settlers.

"The incident is still ongoing and security forces are currently at the scene."

The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any clashes with settlers. The Israeli police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The West Bank, territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war, is home to some three million Palestinians and 500,000 settlers. There are some 146 settlements in the West Bank, as well as 390 smaller outposts, according to the Israeli settlement watchdog group Peace Now. REUTERS