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.
According to Anadolu Agency, Mohammad Rab'i, head of the village council in nearby At-Tawani, reported that illegal Israeli settlers erected a tent on the remains of a Palestinian resident's home. The house was among 25 structures, including homes, agricultural facilities, and water wells, that were demolished in early May by Israeli forces in Khilet al-Daba.
Rab'i indicated that 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."
The situation has escalated tensions in the area, with a 37-year-old pregnant Palestinian woman reportedly injured after being attacked by illegal settlers in the same village, as reported by the Palestinian Red Crescent. The broader context involves a large-scale demolition conducted on May 5, justified by Israeli forces by citing a lack of Israeli-issued construction permits in Area C, which is under full Israeli control.
Under the Oslo II Accords (1995), Area C accounts for approximately 60% of the occupied West Bank. Khilet al-Daba, situated southeast of Hebron, is among several Palestinian communities facing forced displacement. In 2022, Israel's High Court approved the demolition and expulsion of residents, justifying the area, nearly 3,000 dunums (around 740 acres), including 250 dunums for residential use, as a 'firing zone.'
The Palestinian government's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission has reported that illegal Israeli settlers carried out 341 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank in April alone. The violence has intensified since the start of the Israeli onslaught on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023, resulting in at least 972 Palestinians killed and more than 7,000 injured 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.