Activists attempted to deliver supplies to Palestinians under an almost week-long settler siege in the West Bank yesterday, with the Israeli military again deployed at the flashpoint site.

Rogue Israeli settlers at Qusra near Nablus began blockading Palestinian homes on Sunday and have defied attempts by the military to remove them, with residents saying they have been cut off from food and other supplies.

An AFP journalist reported seeing settlers at the site early yesterday, but they appeared to have dispersed from the immediate vicinity by later in the morning. The siege has drawn unusually sharp criticism from the United States.

A few dozen activists led a march towards the blockaded houses yesterday holding a Palestinian flag, signs reading “Justice for All” and donations for the families, the AFP journalist said.

The donated supplies, which included water, drinks and snacks, were dropped near the gates of one of the houses where heavily armed Israeli security forces were stationed.

The military said they would check the supplies before allowing them into the house, where residents could be seen looking down from a balcony.

The AFP journalist had earlier reported that the settlers had set up a new tent near one of the blockaded houses and that two military vehicles had arrived at the site. But by late morning, the tent had been removed and the settlers were nowhere to be seen.

Against the backdrop of the siege in Qusra, Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare a plan to transfer all enforcement of civilian matters regarding West Bank settlers to the Israeli police -- a measure which, if implemented, would be a step towards Israeli annexation of the Palestinian territory.

Several ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government openly call for the annexation of all or part of the West Bank.