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Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Israeli settlers exploit war to build illegal West Bank outposts

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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