Israel sets up 7 new settlement outposts in the West Bank, rights group says

Israeli occupation authorities have established at least seven illegal settlement outposts in the past six months in ‘Area B’ of the occupied West Bank, an Israeli rights group said yesterday.

Peace Now, which monitors settlement activity, said on its website: “For the first time since the Oslo Accords, Peace Now’s Settlement Watch team documented the establishment of at least seven outposts deep within Area B.”

It explained that five of these outposts were built on a large area of land east and southeast of Bethlehem city which is located within Area B, where Palestinians are prohibited from construction.

According to Peace Now, one of the other two settlement outposts was established east of the Ofra settlement in the central West Bank, on land owned by residents of the Palestinian village of Ein Yabrud.

The other outpost is located to the north near the Shilo settlement, south of the illegal settlement outpost of Adei Ad. It was built on the land of the Palestinian villagers of Turmus Ayya.

Peace Now pointed out that some Palestinians were displaced from these areas because of repetitive attacks of Israeli settlers who later seized their homes.

“After seizing control of Area C and systematically displacing Palestinians through house demolitions and settler violence, settlers have now set their sights on Area B,” Peace Now warned.

The international community, including the UN, considers all settlements and outposts illegal under international law. The UN has repeatedly warned that continued settlement expansion threatens the viability of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In July the International Court of Justice ruled the occupation was “illegal” and should be dismantled as soon as possible.

Under the 1995 Interim Agreement (Oslo II) between Israel and the Palestinians, Area B was designated as an area under full Palestinian civil control (including planning and construction authority), with Israeli security control.

The number of settlers in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, has surged to more than 750,000 residing in more than 170 settlements, in addition to hundreds of outposts.

Settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories has witnessed a significant upsurge since the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power in December 2022.

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