Illegal Israeli settlers establish new outpost on ruins of demolished Palestinian home in south Hebron

Illegal Israeli settlers began setting up a new outpost on Saturday in the village of Khilet al-Daba, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on the rubble of a Palestinian home demolished by the Israeli army weeks earlier.

Mohammad Rab’i, head of the village council in nearby At-Tawani, told Anadolu that illegal Israeli settlers erected a tent on the remains of a Palestinian resident’s home.

The house was one of 25 structures, including homes, agricultural facilities, and water wells, demolished in early May by Israeli forces in Khilet al-Daba.

Rab’i said the mass demolition was part of a campaign aimed at forcibly displacing residents and clearing the area for illegal settler expansion.

“The goal is to evacuate Khilet al-Daba entirely for the illegal settlers,” he said. “Establishing an outpost here would effectively put the entire Masafer Yatta area under illegal settler control.”

On Friday, A 37-year-old pregnant Palestinian woman was injured after being attacked by illegal settlers in the same village, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

READ: Israeli forces raid West Bank, military vehicle rams into bus carrying Hajj pilgrims in Jenin

On May 5, Israeli forces carried out the large-scale demolition in the village, citing a lack of Israeli-issued construction permits in Area C, which falls under full Israeli control.

Under the Oslo II Accords (1995), Area C accounts for approximately 60% of the occupied West Bank.

Khilet al-Daba, located southeast of Hebron, is one of several Palestinian communities facing forced displacement. In 2022, Israel’s High Court approved the demolition and expulsion of residents, claiming the area, nearly 3,000 dunums (around 740 acres), including 250 dunums designated for residential use, is a “firing zone.”

According to the Palestinian government’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers carried out 341 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank in April alone.

Since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 972 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel’s longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

READ: Hamas says it submitted response to US envoy’s proposal seeking permanent ceasefire in Gaza