Israeli settlers establish new settlement outpost in occupied West Bank

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Israeli settlers on Friday established a new settlement outpost on the lands of the Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village, south of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

“A group of settlers established a settlement outpost on the village lands,” head of the Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya Council, Yacoub Awais, told Anadolu.

Awais explained that the outpost consists of six caravans, warning that it will pose a danger to the local population and Palestinian territories.

The settlement outpost is located on a mountain overlooking a place where, on Thursday, a Palestinian carried out a shooting attack in which two Israeli settlers were killed, before he was killed by Israeli army bullets.

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the establishment of the settlement outpost.

“We strongly condemn the continuing escalation in attacks by Jewish colonial terrorist elements against citizens, their land, property, trees, homes, and holy places,” the ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry considered this escalation “a blatant challenge to the resolutions of international legitimacy and international law, and a disdain for the positions of countries that reject settlement.”

“We see that the Israeli government does not give any weight to the international community and its decisions, and does not respect the positions and demands of countries in this regard as long as they are not translated into deterrent actions and penalties,” it added.

Estimates indicate about 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

All Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal under international law.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv said killed less than 1,200 people.

At least 30,228 Palestinians have since been killed and 71,377 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi