Israeli settlers pitch tents for new illegal outpost in occupied West Bank

Israeli settlers have pitched tents in the Wadi Zeytun area, northwest of Ramallah, in an attempt to establish a new illegal settlement outpost near the village of Umm Safa. This move comes as other groups of settlers have maintained a week-long siege on the village of Qusra, south of Nablus.

Al Jazeera's Tharwat Shakra reported that settlers also began establishing a separate outpost in the village of Burqa on the same day. If these new outposts are established, the number surrounding these two neighboring villages will increase to six, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Settlers have already seized a significant portion of land from both Umm Safa and Burqa.

Meanwhile, in Qusra, an Israeli settler siege has confined three families, totaling 15 Palestinians including two children, to their homes for over a week. Israeli soldiers have been observed rotating positions and maintaining a presence outside the besieged residences. Municipal crews have since restored electricity and water services to the affected families.

In separate incidents on Sunday, settlers attacked a Palestinian home in Beit Imrin, north of Nablus, detaining the occupants before Israeli forces arrived and arrested nine people. Israeli forces also reportedly blocked Palestinian Red Crescent teams from reaching the area and confiscated ambulance keys. Further attacks and attempted raids were reported in other areas near Ramallah and in Hebron, where some Palestinians were injured by gunfire.

Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, described the settler violence and the ongoing sieges as part of Israel's long-standing "impunity," which has now escalated significantly. The Palestinian Prisoner's Society noted an increase in arrests by Israeli forces in towns experiencing settler outpost establishment, targeting residents who resist these attacks.

“

Israeli settler violence and the ongoing siege of three Palestinian homes in Qusra should be understood as part of Israel’s decades-long rule of “impunity”, which has now reached a “climax”.