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U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has warned militant Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank not to seize property owned by Palestinian Americans, describing such actions as “a violation of God’s law,” Reuters reported Thursday.
Huckabee, a longtime supporter of Israeli settlements, told Reuters in an interview that settlers found to have taken part in a siege of homes in the West Bank village of Qusra, including one belonging to Palestinian American Loui Ridi, could face U.S. sanctions.
Asked what message U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration had for settlers considering taking homes or land in the West Bank owned by Palestinian Americans, Huckabee referred to Jewish and Christian scripture.
“I think the message is bigger than just even the Trump administration. It’s a message of basic civility and civilized behavior,” Huckabee told Reuters in Jerusalem.
“You don’t take something that doesn’t belong to you,” he said.
U.S. officials estimate that tens of thousands of Palestinian Americans live in the West Bank, many of them in a cluster of villages between Ramallah and Nablus, where Qusra is located.
Ridi, speaking to Reuters from his home in Qusra on Thursday, said he was in contact with Huckabee’s staff at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem but continued to face harassment from Israeli settlers near his property.
Citing the Ten Commandments, Huckabee referred to the commandment “Thou shalt not steal” and said people should neither take nor “covet” or desire what belongs to others.
“If someone owns the land and they own their house, then having someone come and take it over and scare the family away from it, that’s a violation, not just of man’s law. That’s a violation of God’s law,” said Huckabee, a Republican former governor of Arkansas.
Huckabee is the first evangelical Christian to serve as U.S. ambassador to Israel.
He has long supported Israeli settlements in the West Bank and refers to the territory by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, a term used by the Israeli government but not adopted by the U.S. government, according to Reuters.
Defending settlements in general, Huckabee said violent settlers were a minority and did not represent the wider settlement community, which he said “just want to raise their families in Judea and Samaria peacefully and with a level of security.”
The remarks follow a siege of Palestinian homes in Qusra by Israeli settlers, including one belonging to a dual U.S. citizen.
Since Aug. 9, settlers have besieged three Palestinian families, comprising around 13 people, in the Ras al-Ain area of the town, obstructing the delivery of food, water and basic supplies.
Israel’s military has deployed dozens of troops to the area and has since pushed the settlers back from the homes.
But the settlers remain nearby, and residents, including Ridi, say they fear they will move toward their properties again once the troops withdraw.
The developments come as settler attacks have escalated across the occupied West Bank under the protection of the Israeli army.
Earlier this month, the United Nations warned that settler violence had reached unprecedented levels, reporting more than 1,430 attacks on Palestinians and their property since the start of 2026.
The U.N. said the attacks targeted around 260 Palestinian communities.
Settler attacks, demolitions and evictions have contributed to the displacement of around 3,800 Palestinians, nearly half of them children.
The attacks include the killing and injury of Palestinians, vandalism and demolition of homes and structures, the burning of vehicles and property, the destruction of agricultural land and preventing farmers from accessing their land, according to U.N. reports.
In Qusra, residents say the attacks have increasingly coincided with the establishment of new illegal settlement outposts and the expansion of illegal pastoral settlements, making the conflict increasingly tied to control of the land.
Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem said a new illegal settlement outpost was established near Qusra, Jalud and Talfit in January 2026, adding that attacks against Palestinians in the area increased afterward.
Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967.
The international community considers Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian land illegal under international law.
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