Israeli settlers level tract West Bank land to build new settlement amid rising tensions

Israeli settlers escorted by troops have leveled large swathes of Palestinian land in the West Bank city of Bethlehem in order to construct new settler units in the occupied territory.

Israeli bulldozers entered the private Palestinian land in the villages of Kisan east of Bethlehem, and started to flatten them which were planted with crops and trees, Palestine's official Wafa news agency, citing local sources, reported Thursday.

Ahmad Ghazzal, the deputy mayor of Kisan, said that Israel was planning to expand the illegal Ibei Hanahal settlement outpost in the area.

The move is intended to make room for the construction of over 20 new setter units, he added.

He pointed that settlers had forced out Palestinian shepherds from the seized land and denied them access to it.

At least three more illegal Israeli settlements are built on land expropriated from Palestinian villages in the same area.

Israel has already occupied thousands of dunums of Palestinian agricultural land to construct and expand new illegal settler units in various areas in the occupied West Bank.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Emboldened by former US president Donald Trump’s all-out support, Israel has stepped up its illegal settlement construction activities in defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which has pronounced settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds “a flagrant violation under international law.”

Much of the international community regards the Israeli settler units in the occupied lands as illegal.

Palestinians want the West Bank as part of a future independent state with East Jerusalem al-Quds as its capital.

Israel approves plan to seize more Palestinian land in West Bank to build illegal settlements

Israeli officials approve a plan to confiscate dozens of acres of private Palestinian land in the West Bank city of Bethlehem to build new illegal settler units.

Palestinian teenager shot and killed by Israeli forces

The Arab population of Israel staged a general strike and a day of mourning in the town of Umm al-Fahm on Thursday, after 17-year-old Mohammad Mahmoud Kiwan died just over a week after being shot by Israeli police.

According to the family, Kiwan was shot by Israeli police on May 12 at the Mei Ami junction in the Israeli town of Mei Ami, some two kilometres from Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel. 

On Wednesday, Palestinian officials demanded a probe into his death, while the family accused Israeli police of "assassinating" the teenager.

In a statement, the family said: "Our son, the martyr Mohammad, has joined the convoy of martyrs whose pure blood was shed for the sake of al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque, and for the wounds of our people and our brothers in Gaza, [a place] of honour and steadfastness."

Activists in Umm al-Fahm had called for public and private institutions to adhere to the strike.

Israeli groups plan further violence against Palestinians amid lynchings

Israeli groups reportedly plan to launch more violent attacks on Palestinians residing in the occupied territories after horrific lynchings there.

In recent years, there has been a steep rise in crime and violence against Arab communities across the occupied territories.

Since the beginning of 2021, 22 Arabs have died in violent Israeli attacks. According to Israeli police, 113 murders took place in Arab communities in 2020, making it the deadliest year yet.

In 2019, at least 91 Palestinian citizens were killed as a result of violent Israeli crimes, accounting for 71% of the 125 homicide victims in the occupied territories, where the community makes up about 21% of the population.

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