Israel settlers set up 14 outposts south of Hebron since 7 October 2023

Israeli settlers have established 14 new illegal settlement outposts south of the city of Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023, a Palestinian official said.

Rateb Al-Jabour, coordinator of the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC) in the southern West Bank, said the settler outposts were established near settlements in the area between the towns of Masafer Yatta and Yatta.

He added that the extremist so-called “Hilltop Youth” group has been involved in establishing the outposts after confiscating thousands of dunams of Palestinian land, with support from the Israeli occupation government, according to a report by Anadolu agency yesterday.

Al-Jabour pointed out that the Hilltop Youth recently seized Palestinian land east of Yatta, adjacent to the Susya settlement, ploughed the area and set up a fence around it, noting that the land belongs to the families of Abu Suwaileh, Al-Jabour and others.

According to Al-Jabour, all land is located in “Area C” of the West Bank.

Read: Connecting the dots between Hebron and Gaza

Palestinian Ibrahim Al-Tal said settlers have seized about 60 dunams (14.8 acres) of his family’s lands in the town of Dhahiriya, south of Hebron, WAFA reported.

Al-Tal said the confiscated lands are owned by the Taleb Al-Tal family, and are located in an area near the Shama settlement, which was built on Palestinian land belonging to the town of Dhahiriya.

Israeli occupation forces also expelled Palestinian farmers from their land south of Hebron.

Nayef Al-Basaytah said the Israeli occupation forces have forced the Palestinian farmers to leave their lands and prevented them from continuing to plough and cultivate them under the pretext that they had been classed “state property” so their owners need special permits to access them.

Al-Basaytah explained that the lands, estimated at 250 dunams (61.8 acres), belong to the families of Abu Sharkh, Mansiyeh, Makharza and Al-Tal.