LONDON: Israeli settlers have established a new illegal settlement outpost near the Palestinian town of Al-Auja, located near Jericho in the eastern part of the occupied West Bank.
Large groups of armed settlers carried out bulldozing works on Monday aimed at establishing a new “colonial reality” on the ground, according to the Wafa news agency.
Hassan Mleihat, chairman of the Al-Baidar Association for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, said that there are seven pastoral settlement outposts situated in the Al-Auja area.
In January, 121 Palestinian families composed of almost 620 people had fled the nearby town of Ras Al-Auja to the west of Al-Auja. Settlers also established a pastoral settlement near Ras Al-Auja and have repeatedly attacked the Bedouin community, restricting their access to grazing lands.
The Israeli government plans to annex the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, covering almost 30 percent of the West Bank territory, as Israeli outposts threaten the presence of Bedouin communities in the area.
In a separate incident on Monday, Israeli settlers attacked the town of Burin, located south of Nablus, and prevented a farmer from working on his land, Wafa added.
Israeli forces detained 15 Palestinians during raids across towns in the West Bank and demolished commercial shops in the vegetable market of Beita, a town south of Nablus.
