Illegal settlers establish outpost near Jericho, seize Palestinian home near Arab Al-Mleihat Bedouin community
Israeli settlers established a sixth illegal outpost near the historic city of Jericho in the eastern West Bank within a month, a Palestinian human rights activist said Wednesday.
The settlers also occupied a Palestinian home in the same area.
Hassan Mleihat, general coordinator of the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, told Anadolu that a group of illegal settlers set up the new outpost near the Arab Al-Mleihat Bedouin community northwest of Jericho, only about 150 meters (492 feet) from Palestinian homes.
“The settlers brought herds of livestock, built pens and erected tents as they began establishing the outpost,” Mleihat said.
He also said that illegal settlers stormed a local resident's home, occupied it and looted animal feed stored by the Bedouin community.
According to Mleihat, illegal settlers have already built five other outposts in the Muarrajat area over a month.
He warned that more than 500 Palestinians living in Arab al-Mleihat are facing a “serious escalation” by illegal settlers aimed at “erasing the Palestinian presence from the area.”
Under international law, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal.
Attacks by illegal Israeli settlers and the military have led to the displacement of around 30 Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank since Israel escalated its operations in the territory alongside the war on Gaza in October 2023, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.
At least 988 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers since October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.
The International Court of Justice last July declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
