Israeli occupiers began establishing an illegal settlement point in a village in the Masafer Yatta region of Hebron governorate in the southern occupied West Bank under army protection, a Palestinian official said today, Anadolu reports.

Umm al-Khair village council head Khalil Hathaleen told Anadolu that the occupiers had “started building a new settlement neighborhood in the middle of the village by installing caravans, erecting fences and paving road”.

He explained that the new post divides Umm al-Khair into two sections and blocks the roads used by students and residents.

Hathaleen said that Umm al-Khair “has been subjected to a fierce and continuous campaign by the invaders”, adding that construction of the settlement’s neighborhood has accelerated since midnight in order to “increase pressure on residents and displace them”.

“The aim is to drive people out, but we are staying here”, he said.

Activist Ahmad Hathaleen said the occupiers started placing caravans in the middle of the Palestinian community at night. He added that the new checkpoint “grabs tens or even hundreds of dunams of Umm al-Khair’s land,” despite residents receiving a ruling from an Israeli court months ago declaring it illegal.

He also said the creation of the checkpoint divided Umm al-Khair into northern and southern sections “to put further pressure on the Palestinians in preparation for their displacement.” He pointed out that the residents of Umm al-Khair face almost daily attacks by the occupiers, including demolitions, warning notices and the interruption of water and electricity supplies.

Areas throughout Masafer Yatta have seen escalating attacks by the occupiers and the establishment of illegal settlement checkpoints amid Palestinian warnings of efforts to displace Bedouin and agricultural communities.

The attacks come amid escalating occupation violence in the West Bank. The Palestinian Commission on Colonization and Resistance to the Wall documented some 1,637 occupation attacks in April.

The violence has coincided with a continued Israeli military escalation in the occupied territory since the Gaza war, including killings, arrests and raids in cities and towns that include house searches and property destruction.

Source: prizrenpost