Israeli settlers raze Palestinian land to expand illegal West Bank settlement

Israeli settlers have trespassed Palestinian-owned land, razing a large swathe of it to expand a nearby settlement in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA cited Qasem Awwad, an official at the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, as saying that the settlers razed about 50 dunums of land located south of the city of Nablus on Monday in order to expand the nearby settlement of Yitzhar.

According to the report, the setters have recently set up a number of settler units in the razed area to pave the way for the seizure of more land owned by Palestinians from the town of Huwara and the villages of Burin and Asira al-Qibliya in Nablus Province.

Awwad accused the Israeli government of colluding with settlers and covering up their illegal activities, which aim at seizing Palestinian land for settlement expansion and turning the West Bank cities, towns and villages into isolated cantons.

Scores of Palestinians injured by Israeli forces in West Bank

Scores of Palestinians have been injured during clashes with Israeli forces, who dispersed anti-settlement protests in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli bulldozers raze Palestinian land, demolish business in al-Quds

In another act of aggression by the Tel Aviv regime against Palestinians in the village of Isawiyya, northeast of East al-Quds, Israeli bulldozers razed land, and demolished a car wash on Monday.

WAFA reported that the razed land belonged to Fadi Alyan, a guard at al-Aqsa Mosque, whom Israel has had under detention since last year.

The report added that a large police force escorted a bulldozer to the neighborhood, which lies on the eastern slopes of occupied al-Quds, where the heavy machinery tore down the car wash.

At the same time, an excavator leveled a plot of land owned by an employee with the Islamic Waqf department, who is currently in Israeli custody.

Situated in the hills of East al-Quds, Isawiyya is plagued by poor infrastructure and residents are constantly harassed by the Israeli police.

Rights groups have long pointed out that Israel’s discriminatory policies in East al-Quds, including routine home demolitions, discriminatory allocation of building permits, and the forceful expulsions of Palestinians from their homes for the benefit of Israeli colonial settlements, are aimed at driving out Palestinians from the city to tilt the demographic balance in favor of its Jewish population.

In 1967, and during the Six-Day Arab-Israeli War, Israel occupied East al-Quds, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip — territories the Palestinians want for a future state. It later had to withdraw from Gaza. Since then, more than 600,000 Israelis have been living in over 230 settlements that continue to grow in number to this day.

The United Nations Security Council has condemned Israel’s settlement activities in several resolutions. But it has only been for the record.

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