Armed Israeli Settlers and Expanded Outposts Push the West Bank to the Brink of Explosion

By: Madeeha Al-A’raj

The ‘National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that the occupying State is pursuing a destructive and discriminatory policy in Jerusalem, causing irreparable damage. It seizes every opportunity to take measures that -alter-the city s demographic composition, religious character, and legal status, effectively destroying what remains of the pluralistic presence of the 3 Abrahamic Religions i.e. ‘the 3 monotheistic religions’. In occupied East Jerusalem, extrajudicial killings are escalating, while demolitions and forced displacement are expanding. Checkpoints and closures further isolate the city from its Palestinian surroundings.
The Israeli Police actions, blatant interference with freedom of worship, and the closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslims for the third week of Ramadan this year are generating increased tension and instability. Noting that such practices have no connection to what the occupation authorities call security concerns, but rather are part of a systematic project to consolidate exclusive Jewish control, the consequences of which are deeply disturbing. Over 2021 - 2025, UN data indicates that 144 Palestinians were killed in Jerusalem, at least 11,555 people were arbitrarily arrested, and more than 1,732 Palestinian homes and structures were demolished.
In the surroundings of the city, Palestinian citizens live in constant anxiety about the future. The education sector has deteriorated following legislation enacted by the occupying authorities against the UNRWA and its institutions and schools, in clear violation of international law and the legal immunity enjoyed by this organization. Thirty-three Bedouin communities, comprising more than 7,000 Palestinians are at risk of displacement due to repeated demolitions, land confiscation, deprivation of natural resources, and loss of livelihoods, forcing many to leave.
Discriminatory Israeli legislation further fuels this process, preventing Palestinians from reclaiming property lost between 1947 and 1949, while allowing Israeli Jews to do so, despite International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law categorically prohibiting the confiscation of private property and the forced displacement of protected persons.
Moreover, the policies of Israel s far-right National Security Minister, a partner of Netanyahu in the ruling coalition, threaten serious repercussions, particularly his move to arm settlers in 41 additional Jewish neighborhoods in occupied East Jerusalem. Last week, Ben-Gvir stated in a post on the X platform that residents of the 41 Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem are eligible for personal firearm licenses, following a specialized study conducted by his ministry to address the challenges facing the capital. The decision means adding areas with a population exceeding 300,000 to those already granted gun licenses in Jerusalem, in settlements such as Givat Shaul, Ramot, Neve Ya akov, and Gilo.
Within the context, the newspapers Haaretz and Yediot Aharonot reported that the decision means the majority of the city s 600,000 Jewish residents are now eligible for such licenses. Ben-Gvir had launched a policy of arming Israelis, including settlers in the occupied West Bank, at the end of 2023. During this period, more than 250,000 Israelis were armed, with a focus on settlers´-or-residents of areas designated as high-risk. Now, however, he has moved to arming everyone in Jerusalem. Under the decision, everyone will receive weapons, including ultra-Orthodox Jews who have not served in the army and have no experience with weapons.
The list includes ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, such as, Mea Shearim, Romema, and Beit Yisrael, commercial centers like Mahane Yehuda, and neighborhoods and settlements located on the edge of Arab neighborhoods, such as Shimon HaTzaddik in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, which has witnessed many clashes and tensions. The statement issued by the Ministry of National Security said that the decision was made ‘after staff work and a professional review by the Israel Police and professionals in the Firearms Licensing and Supervision Department, who analyzed the unique security challenges of the capital and the security needs of the residents.’
The distribution of weapons to settlers as Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu s partner in government, continues to have a profound impact on the behavior of the settlers. The West Bank has witnessed an escalation in crimes committed by armed settlers, especially after 7 Oct. 2023. The crimes continue to escalate and do not stop, encouraged by the Israeli political and military leadership. With the war on Iran, the level of these crimes has increased. Since the beginning of March, we have witnessed a noticeable rise in settler violations and attacks against Palestinian citizens, their property, and their land.
Estimates indicate an increase in the attacks and violations of about 25% compared to the period preceding the American-Israeli war on Iran. Since the beginning of this month, 8 Palestinians have been killed of whom 5 were killed by settler gunfire, namely: Thaer Faroq Hamayel, 24, Fares Jawdat Hamayel, 57 from the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, the brothers Mohammad Taha Abdul Majeed Muamar, 52 years and Fahim Abdul Majeed Muamar, 47 from the village of Qariot, south of Nablus, and Amir Mohammad Shanaran, 27 from the Yatta town, south of Hebron.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Hussein Murra, 55 from the village of Abu Falah died from inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces while they were providing protection for the settler attack on the village. Two young men, Mohammad Jihad Masalmeh from the Dura town, and Tamer Ismail Qaisia from the Al-Dhahiriya town, died from wounds sustained when they were shot by Israeli forces in the Hebron governorate. The West Bank has also witnessed a series of brutal settler attacks since the beginning of the month.
In the Beit Anan town, northwest of Jerusalem, a Palestinian man sustained moderate injuries after being attacked by settlers in front of his family on his farmland. In the Bedouin community of Ma azi Jaba north of Jerusalem, a child was injured during a settler attack that included property damage and the killing of several head of livestock. In the northern Jordan Valley, 8 Palestinians were injured in a settler attack in the Ras Aal-Ahmar area south of Tubas, and 12 Palestinians were injured in the Al-AqBA village by Israeli army gunfire after attempting to repel a settler attack.
In addition, terrorist settlers have left many Bedouin communities with no means of survival. Numerous communities have been displaced. On the eastern mountain slopes of the village of Al-Aqaba, east of Tubas, residents were forced to dismantle their tents and homes and leave the area due to escalating attacks by occupation forces and settlers. Southeast of Nablus, in an area overlooking the central Jordan Valley, settlers forced the residents of the Shakara Bedouin community, which belongs to the Duma village in the Nablus Governorate and houses 13 families comprising of 70 individuals, to leave their homes, completely destroying their property. Attention is also focused with grave concern on 14 Bedouin communities in the E1 area east of occupied Jerusalem, where the occupation authorities are planning a settlement project that will sever the West Bank.
It appears that the world s preoccupation with the repercussions of a war with Iran is providing an ideal environment for settlers to implement their plans. Palestinians rightly see what is happening in the West Bank as a blatant exploitation of regional circumstances to implement pre-planned, extreme right-wing agendas. The hope remains pinned on the resilience of Bedouin communities in the contact zones, despite-limit-ed resources and the absence of international protection.
The issue is no longer confined to Bedouin communities-;- it has begun to cast a dark shadow over urban areas in the Palestinian countryside. On the hills of Kafr Ni ma village, west of Ramallah and al-Bireh, the ‘Youth Village’ faces a silent war waged by settler ambitions in the area. The ‘Youth Village’ established as a center for volunteer work and youth empowerment, has been transformed into a stage for settler incursions aimed at breaking the will to remain and altering the landscape.
In its settlement activities, the Occupation Authorities issued a military order on March 7th to seize large areas of land belonging to the towns of Silwad, Deir Jarir, and Al-Mazra a Al-Sharqiya, located in the vicinity of the ‘Jabal Al-Asur military base, east of Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate’. The aim of the order is to construct a settler-only military road linking the ‘Jabal Al-Asur base’ to the surrounding areas, reaching as far as the lands of Deir Jarir. It should be noted that the targeted lands are privately owned agricultural and mountainous lands overlooking the Jordan Valley and are among the highest elevations in the West Bank.
The order paves the way for connecting surrounding settlements such as Ofra and Beit El with a new road network, effectively isolating the eastern villages of Ramallah from their surroundings. The commander of the Central Command, Avi Blot, signed 16 court orders that evening in response to the settlers demands. These orders pave the way for the establishment of four settlement outposts, declare the resettlement of the Ganim and Kadim settlements that were evacuated in the 2005 disengagement process, and also expand the scope of 10 other settlements.
Meanwhile, last week witnessed a series of settlement activities through the expansion of settlement outposts and other terrorist pastoral outposts in several governorates of the West Bank. In the Nablus Governorate, settlers established a new settlement outpost on Palestinian-owned land between the villages of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, south of Nablus, and Yasuf, east of Salfeet. They placed a caravan in the Wadi Yasuf area, north of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, after paving a settlement road that confiscated dozens of dunams of Palestinian land.
This area has been subjected for years to land leveling and the construction of settlement roads aimed at expanding settlements and seizing new land for the benefit of the settlements of Tapuach and Ariel, particularly on land belonging to the villages of Yasuf, Iskaka, and Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya. Settlers also rebuilt the settlement outpost in the Ras Muweis area of Qariot and began bulldozing land, uprooting trees, and erecting tents. It is worth noting that these same settlers were responsible for the attack on Qariot, which resulted in the killing of two brothers and the wounding of several residents. Settlers also erected a tent on Palestinian-owned land between the village of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya and the Salfeet city.
They stormed the area opposite Al-Zaytouna University, located midway between Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya and Salfit, and then drove several ATVs through the land adjacent to the university campus. In the Beit Imrin village, northwest of Nablus, settlers stormed the outskirts of the village with their livestock, which they released among the houses and lands in Area A, following the establishment of a new settlement outpost on a hilltop. In addition to all this, and in a provocative move and a new escalation of settlement activity, settlers established an outpost on Mount Ebal, north of Nablus, at dawn last Thursday.
This was done with the participation of the so-called ‘Samaria Settlements Council’, headed by the far-right Likud member Yossi Dagan, and the ‘Amana settlement’ movement. The outpost is located near the site that the occupation claims is the biblical altar attributed to Joshua bin Nun. According to what was published by settlement groups, students from an agricultural religious school were brought to the site, in a move aimed at establishing a permanent settlement presence in the place, while the rabbi of the settlements in the northern West Bank, Eliakim Levonon, came to the site, in a reference to the ideological and religious character of the settlement.
In the Jerusalem Governorate, specifically in the Beit Iksa town, about 40 settlers protected by the occupation army and police stormed the areas of Ras Farij, Krum al-Gharaba and al-Matata in the town’s lands, accompanied by 4 trucks and a bulldozer. They began bulldozing and erecting structures in preparation for establishing a settlement outpost. The settlers closed the agricultural road used by the residents to reach their lands in the area, and threatened the citizens not to approach their lands under threat of weapons.
The Governorates of Tubas, Hebron, and Bethlehem were also subjected to settler attacks in frantic attempts to expand by building new settlement outposts and seizing large areas of Palestinian citizens lands. In Tubas, settlers began fencing off dozens of dunams of grazing land near the village of Al-Aqaba, east of Tubas city, and forced 6 Palestinian families to leave in preparation for seizing the land and establishing a grazing farm amidst ongoing attacks on citizens. Meanwhile, settlers erected tents and sheep pens in the Itweil Al-Sheikh area of Masafer Yatta, in preparation for establishing a new settlement outpost.
They brought with them sheep to graze on citizens lands and crops, and seized a water well, in preparation for seizing the area. Others erected a new tent in the settlement outpost established on citizens lands in the Hamroush area, which belongs to the town of Sa ir, northeast of Hebron. The erection of the tent raised a state of concern and fear of the expansion of the settlement outpost in the area and the seizure of the surrounding agricultural lands. In the Al-Sawahra desert east of Jerusalem, settlers erected a wooden tent on citizens’ land in the Al-Muntar area, which threatens to seize additional land in the area with the aim of establishing a new settlement outpost.
List of Israeli Assaults over the Last Week Documented by the National Bureau:
Jerusalem:
- Uprooting 80 olive trees in the towns of Biddu and Beit Iksa, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext that they were close to the Aparthied Wall and the military checkpoint at the village entrance.
- Attacking the Bedouin Community of Ma azi Jaba , vandalizing residents property and killing several livestock.
- Forcing Nidal Abu Suriya from the Beit Hanina town to demolish his own home, claiming it was built without a permit. Settlers also established an outpost on Palestinian-owned land in the town of Mikhmas.
- Establishing a new outpost on land belonging to the town of Beit Iksa after storming the area with four trucks and a bulldozer.
Hebron:
- Attacking shepherds in the Rahum Ali area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, assaulting them and injuring 3 children, Mohammad Adra, 13, Ibrahim Adra, 11, and Hamada Adra, 14. They sustained cuts and bruises and were subsequently transferred to Yatta Governmental Hospital for treatment.
- Uprooting 130 olive trees near the separation wall in the Khallat Abu Daqiya area in the town of Idhna, west of Hebron. Meanwhile, settlers released their livestock into Palestinian fields and around homes in the Abu Shaban area of Masafer Yatta, assaulting residents and shepherds.
- Erecting tents and sheep pens in the Itweil al-Sheikh area of Masafer Yatta, preparing to establish a new settlement outpost, and seized a water well, also in preparation for taking over the area.
- Releasing sheep into agricultural lands and around residents homes, damaging crops in the village of Suya, also in Masafer Yatta.
Bethlehem:
- Releasing sheep onto farmers lands to destroy crops in the village of Kisan, southeast of Bethlehem. Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed 3 dunams planted with olive trees in the area along the main road in the village of Jorat al-Shama a, south of Bethlehem.
- Erecting caravan continued bulldozing in Khala il-Luz in the village of Khala il al-Luz, installing more mobile homes to impose a new settlement reality in the area and threaten farmers lands and livelihoods.
- Uprooting hundreds of olive trees after bulldozing 50 dunams, in addition to a number of forest trees in the Wadi al-Hummus area, near the town of Dar Salah and the village of al-Khas, east of Bethlehem, and storming the area about a week prior, creating an opening in the separation wall, paving the way for the bulldozing of those lands.
- Bulldozing land in the ‘Arbidat area’iIn the town of Tuqu as part of completing the settlement road that was recently constructed in the eastern part of the town. This road will connect to the road leading to the Tekoa A settlement, which is built on Palestinian-owned land. This arbitrary measure will lead to the confiscation of thousands of dunams planted with olive trees.
Ramallah:
- Bulldozing work and the construction of a new settlement road, a project aims to connect large areas of land belonging to the towns of Sinjil and Abwein to the Ma ale Levona settlement and the settlement road ‘5056’, also known as the Korbat al-Laban road. This is a prelude to land confiscation, and the settlement project further threatens agricultural lands and hinders farmers access to their fields.
- Bulldozing land and uprooted trees to expand settlement outposts surrounding the nearby Shiloh settlement in the neighboring town of Turmus Ayya.
- Uprooting dozens of olive trees while clearing land on the outskirts of the Turmusaya town to expand an outpost built on Palestinian-owned land.
- Establishing 2 new outposts on land belonging to the neighboring towns of Turmusaya and Abu Falah and erected tents at the site, in a move aimed at seizing more Palestinian land.
Nablus:
- Using tractors rammed vehicles and smashed their windows with clubs at the entrance to Duma village, south of Nablus, causing material damage. They also set fire to the village mosque in an act that could only be perpetrated by criminal gangs.
- Destroying the water pipeline supplying homes west of the Sabastia town.
- Cutting down electricity poles in the Al-Arma area of Aqraba, while others, under the protection of occupation soldiers, attacked Khirbet Al-Marajem, which belongs to Duma village, assaulting residents and spraying them with pepper spray.
- Erecting a tent on Palestinian-owned land between Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya village and Salfeet city after storming the area opposite Al-Zaytouna University, midway between Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya and Salfeet. They then drove around in several ATVs on the land adjacent to the university campus.
- Injuring 4 citizens as a result of attacks carried out by settlers in the towns of Beita, Jamma’in, and Awarta. Local sources reported that a group of settlers attacked citizens and assaulted citizen Mu’tasim Saleh by beating him and spraying him with pepper spray.
- Attacking Tariq Rajih Ahmad Imran and Jabr Mohammad Shahada while they were working in a quarry in the village of Awarta, and assaulted them by beating them, threatening to kill them if they continued working at the place.
Salfeet:
- Damaging water lines and related equipment belonging to farmers in the al-Qada area, north of Deir Istiya, west of Salfeet. The lines supply water to farmers residing in the Mughr al-Asmar hamlet, irrigating their lands. The settlers also attacked a well belonging to Khader Ahmed Mansour in the Wadi Qana area, northwest of Deir Istiya.
- Assaulting 2 young men in the Dhahr Rajal area, north of the town, causing them bruises in the town of Deir Ballut.
- Erecting a tent on Palestinian-owned land in the Wadi al-Shaer area, east of Salfit. This area is considered vital as it connects Salfeet to several villages in the Ramallah governorate and is also home to Al-Zaytouna University of Technology, further increasing its importance and the sensitivity of any settlement activity there.
Jodan Valley:
- Blocking a -dir-t road leading to Khirbet Yarza, east of Tubas, with stones, while Israeli occupation forces raided the tents of residents in the encampment, damaging water tanks and vandalizing property.
- Attacking volunteers participating in the Faza a campaign in the Bedouin community of Halq al-Rumman, northwest of Jericho, injuring four volunteers. Israeli forces also prevented shepherds from accessing grazing lands near their tents in Khirbet Yarza, east of Tubas, coinciding with the presence of settlers. In a related incident, settlers forced shepherds to leave their grazing lands in Khirbet Samra in the northern Jordan Valley, chasing them to compel them to leave.
- Stealing 150 livestock, uprooted trees, burned fields, seized property, and demolished several homes and agricultural structures in the village of al-Aqaba, attacked 6 families to leave their homes, dismantling their houses and tents in preparation for leaving the village due to escalating settler violence.
- Forcing 11 Palestinian families to leave the Khirbet Yarza area, east of Tubas, as a result of a significant increase in settler attacks and ongoing threats.
- Beating 8 Palestinians by settlers, and were hospitalized, forced shepherds to abandon their grazing lands in Khirbet Samra in the northern Jordan Valley, chasing them and their livestock.
- Attacking a water pipeline, the only source of drinking water for the families in the area East of Tubas.
- Dismantling 3 families homes and tents and began to leave due to escalating settler attacks and continuous threats in the Atouf area.
- Attacking residents, injuring several who were then hospitalized in the village of Tayasir, where other settlers attacked residents in the Hammamat al-Malih community, stealing livestock before vandalizing homes. They also attacked the al-Malih school, destroying solar panels, damaging water tanks, and smashing windows.

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