Israeli Settlements Expand as Settlers Besiege West Bank Properties

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported Saturday that illegal Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank have reached 592. The commission states Israel now controls approximately 42% of the West Bank, including 91% of the Palestinian Jordan Valley, with an estimated 780,000 settlers residing in the region as of July.

This expansion coincides with a surge in violence and military activity. In Qusra, settlers have besieged three properties since August 8, trapping 10 people without food, water, or electricity. While the Israeli military claims soldiers are stationed there to protect residents following an illegal land takeover, Mayor Abdul Azim Wadi reports that soldiers declared the area a military zone and occupied homes to facilitate Palestinian displacement.

Concurrent military operations on Sunday saw the Israeli army arrest 13 Palestinians, including a child, during raids in Qalqilya, Tulkarem, and near Bethlehem. In other areas, settlers burned a residential room and a vehicle in Osarin and destroyed irrigation pipes and olive trees in the Bethlehem area. These events follow a broader trend of escalation since October 2023, with Palestinian officials documenting 3,488 settler attacks and 21 killings.