Israeli settlers storm, build new illegal outpost near al-Khalil, West Bank

A large group of Israeli settlers have embarked on reconstructing an already demolished settlement outpost in the West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron) as the Tel Aviv regime presses ahead with its land grab policies in the occupied territories.

The Palestinian Information Center, citing a local official, reported on Sunday that the Israeli settlers stormed the Birin area of Yatta city in the morning and started to rebuild the settlement outpost there.

The outpost, located near the illegal settlement of Pnei Hever, was earlier demolished by Palestinian residents, Rateb al-Jabour said, warning that the settlers plan to connect the outpost site with the ones in east Yatta.

He further noted that the Palestinian residents stood in the face of concrete mixer trucks as they were heading toward the outpost before Israeli forces stormed the area and declared it a closed military zone.

Also on Sunday, another group of Israeli settlers started to install a fence around the Ein al-Hilweh spring in the occupied northern Jordan Valley, which they seized several months ago.

According to local sources, the settlers prevented Palestinian shepherds from reaching the area to water their cattle.

Recently, the same settlers attacked the shepherds and their cows with stones to prevent them from approaching the spring.

They have also built mobile residential units and a makeshift road around the area and planted trees in nearby lands owned by Palestinians.

Israeli settlers violently continue Palestinian land grab in West Bank

Settlers bulldozed an area in the Abu al-Shawareb Mountain near Kafr Ra’i village, southwest of Jenin.

Throughout the years, Israel has frequently demolished Palestinian homes, claiming that the structures have been built without permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain.

The Tel Aviv regime even orders the Palestinian owners to tear down their own homes or pay the demolition costs to the municipality.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israeli authorities either demolish or seize Palestinian property in the West Bank and East al-Quds, a trend which has led to the displacement of a large number of Palestinians in recent months.

According to the OCHA, Israel has demolished more than 420 Palestinian-owned structures in the West Bank so far this year.

Many structures have been targeted in Area C, which accounts for more than 60 percent of area in the West Bank, and forms a significant part of a future Palestine state under the so-called two-state solution.

Area C is currently home to 300,000 Palestinians, the vast majority of whom are Bedouins and herding communities.

At the same time, Israel has expanded its settlements in the occupied territories.

The demolitions and evictions carried out by the Israeli authorities are seen as part of efforts to forcibly displace the Palestinians and change the demographic character of the occupied territories.

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

All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law as they are built on occupied land. The UN Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied territories in several resolutions.

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