Israeli settlers raid Palestinian land, set up illegal settlement outpost

Israeli settlers broke into Palestinian land near a village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday evening to build an illegal settlement outpost.

Hundreds of settlers raided the grounds close to Al-Lubban Al-Gharbi village near the city of Ramallah and began setting up an outpost, eyewitnesses told the Palestinian Authority's news agency Wafa.

The settlers, under the protection of armed Israeli forces, arrived at the land in a convoy of buses and private vehicles. This is often a prelude to the seizure of Palestinian land.

Last May, over 400 pro-settlement activists convened at an event organised by the Nachala movement, an extremist settler group, to discuss plans to found ten "new communities" in the West Bank for July.

In June, a report by an Israeli NGO revealed that Israel has significantly ramped up its construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land over the past year and demolished more Palestinian homes than the government of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which left office in June 2021.

The report by Peace Now revealed that Israel’s construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land increased by 62 percent under the government led by Naftali Bennett, whose ruling coaltion recently fell apart.

Israel has occupied the West Bank illegally since 1967, and commits various abuses against Palestinian civilians.

Israeli forces and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories by demolishing homes, poisoning livestock, vandalising property and carrying out often deadly violent attacks.

More than 700,000 Jewish Israelis live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in constructions considered illegal under international law.

The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three zones: Area A, Area B, and Area C.

Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA). Area B's administration is controlled by the PA, with Israel controlling security. Area C covers more than 60% of the West Bank and is under full administrative and security control of Israel.