Ramallah, July 9 (RHC)-- The Palestinian Authority’s settlement activity watchdog reports that Israeli authorities seized approximately 200 acres of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and built nearly two dozen settlement outposts there in the first six months of the current year.
The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said the officials grabbed more than 800 dunums (197 acres) of Palestinian land under various pretexts, issuing 36 orders for land seizure for military purposes and one order for land expropriation under the pretext of road construction and expansion.
The head of the commission, Muayyad Shaaban, noted that Israeli occupation officials issued 556 demolition orders for Palestinian structures, citing the absence of permits as the reason.
These included 322 inhabited homes, 18 uninhabited structures, 151 agricultural facilities, and 97 classified as sources of livelihood and others.
“The majority of these demolition orders were concentrated in the following governorates: Al-Khalil with 145 orders, Ramallah with 131, Qalqilya with 49, and Ariha with 46. The occupation authorities carried out a total of 380 demolition operations, which led to the demolition of 588 structures, affecting 843 people, including 411 children and 378 women,” Shaaban noted.
The senior Palestinian official highlighted that Israeli occupation forces and settler militias carried out 11,280 assaults against Palestinian citizens and their properties in the West Bank over the past six months.
He stated that the attacks were concentrated in the governorates of Ramallah with 1,975 attacks, followed by al-Khalil with 1,918, and then Nablus with 1,784.
Shaaban stated that settlers carried out a total of 2,153 attacks during the mentioned period, which led to the killing of four Palestinian citizens.
These settler attacks ranged from assaults on Palestinian villages and peaceful residents to burning homes over the heads of their inhabitants, shooting at citizens, establishing settler outposts, seizing Palestinian lands, attacking roads and vehicles, and launching organized and dangerous assaults.
These attacks have occurred in the villages of Kafr Malik, al-Mughayyir, Beita, Sinjil, and others.
"In the first half of 2025, settlers established 23 new settler outposts on Palestinian lands, most of which are pastoral outposts, in the governorates of Ramallah, Nablus, al-Khalil, Qalqilya, Tubas, and al-Quds, as part of the ongoing policy of imposing facts on the ground under full protection from the occupation army,” Shaaban stated.
Moreover, Israeli occupation forces and settler militia groups chopped down and damaged a total of 12,067 trees, including 6,144 olive trees.
Of these, 5,359 trees were uprooted in Bethlehem governorate, 2,282 in Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, and 1,774 in Nablus governorate — setting yet another example in the clear and systematic campaign aimed at emptying and devastating Palestinian land.
Israeli forces have dramatically escalated their demolition campaign across the occupied West Bank, marking one of the highest recorded levels in recent years. Hundreds of Palestinian structures have been destroyed in a short span, and dozens of families have been displaced amid serious humanitarian and legal concerns.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, demanding the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV and NEWS AGENCIES ]
