March 18, 2024
Between October
and January, Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank have built at least 15
illegal outposts and 18 illegal roads, as well as hundreds of meters of fences
and multiple roadblocks, a new report from Al-Jazeera shows.
The findings are
based on data gathered by activists and verified with satellite images by
Al-Jazeera's verification unit, Sanad.
Jewish settlers
are quickly expanding their presence in the occupied West Bank, now numbering
some 700,000. Most live in settlements that are illegal under international law
but legal under Israeli law. New Jewish settlements on Palestinian land often
begin as outposts that are illegal even under Israeli law and then are
retroactively authorized by Israeli courts once the number of settlers living
in them has grown.
The rate of
outpost construction has quickly expanded since the start of the war on Gaza on
7 October.
"When there
is a war, that is when settlers take advantage and try to establish as many
outposts as they can," Mauricio Lapchik, an activist with Peace Now, told
Al-Jazeera.
Satellite images
show that settlers are erecting outposts deeper and deeper into Palestinian
territory and further away from existing settlements. Their construction
includes building roads that only Jewish Israelis are allowed to use. These
dissect the West Bank areas where Palestinians live into smaller and smaller
enclaves, limiting Palestinian freedom of movement and blocking Palestinians'
access to their agricultural lands.
The increase in
outpost and road construction since the start of the war has been accompanied
by increased attacks by Jewish settlers, who seek to expel Palestinians from
their lands.
The UN has
recorded five hundred and seventy-three attacks by settlers in the West Bank
since 7 October, with Israeli forces accompanying the settlers half the time.
Settlers have killed at least nine Palestinians during that period while
Israeli forces have killed three hundred and eighty-two.
Al-Jazeera
reports that five days after 7 October, dozens of settlers arrived at the
village of Wadi al-Siq, home to about 180 people. They were dressed in military
fatigues, heavily armed, and escorted by the police.
A farmer from
the village, Abu Bashar, explained how a settler screamed at him, “This land is
not yours.” The settlers then destroyed houses, smashed windows, and stole
animals. As a result of the constant threat of settler violence, Abu Bashar was
forced to abandon his land. "Life is scary, but we want to go back,"
he said.
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