OMM Redaksiyası
A new Israeli settlement outpost is being established near Adh Dhahiriya, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian rights group Al-Baidar Organization said Saturday.
The group described the move as part of continued illegal settlement expansion in the area and warned that it could threaten Palestinian land while restricting residents’ movement and access to their property.
According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli forces also raided the village of Yabrud, northeast of Ramallah, while Israeli settlers stormed a sheep farm there. Several Palestinian vehicles were prevented from passing through the area, Wafa reported.
Outpost activity reported near Ramallah
Al-Baidar said Israeli settlers raided the area around the home of Palestinian resident Khairi Mohammed Abu Tuhfa in Khallat al-Hummus, in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron, frightening members of his family.
Near the village of Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah, a settlement outpost established about two months ago has developed into an inhabited site, the group said. It reported rapid construction and preparations at the location and warned that the outpost could expand onto additional Palestinian land.
The organization said settlers living at the site had displayed extremist behavior toward Palestinians. The pace of construction, it added, “was creating new conditions on the ground and threatening residents’ land and property.”
Settler attacks and land demolitions
In August, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called Israelis involved in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank “terrorists” and warned that their actions were seriously damaging Israel’s image.
About 750,000 Israeli settlers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures. The Palestinian government’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission recorded 628 settler attacks in August.
In the northern West Bank, Israeli forces bulldozed land and uprooted dozens of olive trees near Haddad village in the Jenin governorate, Wafa reported.
Violence since the Gaza war began
Israeli military and settler attacks in the West Bank have intensified since the Gaza war began in October 2023. At least 1,206 Palestinians, including 254 children, have been killed, about 13,350 wounded and more than 24,600 arrested during that period, according to Palestinian official figures.
The United Nations has repeatedly said that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law and warned that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
