1613 Attacks Carried Out by the Army and Settlers Against Palestinians During Last August

SadaNews - The Head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, Minister Muayyad Shaaban, stated that the Israeli occupation forces and settlers carried out 1613 attacks during the month of August, continuing the ongoing cycle of terrorism against the Palestinian people, their lands, and properties.

Shaaban reported in the authority's monthly report on occupation violations and colonial expansion measures that 1182 attacks were carried out by the Israeli army, while settlers carried out 431 attacks. The attacks were primarily concentrated in the provinces of: Ramallah with 321 attacks, Nablus with 274, and Hebron with 220.

Shaaban explained that the attacks ranged from armed assaults on Palestinian villages, imposing facts on the ground, field executions, land leveling, uprooting trees, seizing properties, and creating closures and barriers that separate Palestinian areas.

Two Citizens Martyrdom and Destruction of Thousands of Trees

He noted that the attacks by settlers, which totaled 431, were concentrated in the provinces of: Ramallah with 115 attacks, Nablus with 77, and Hebron with 69, while Jerusalem and Jericho recorded 40 attacks each. The assaults resulted in the martyrdom of two Palestinian citizens in the towns of Awarta and Douma in Nablus, namely the martyrs Muayad Subhi Diriyeh and Thameen Khalil Dawabsheh.

The attacks also led to the uprooting and destruction of 11,700 trees, including 11,599 olive trees, distributed across the provinces: Ramallah with 10,081 trees, Nablus with 658, Jenin with 400, Salfit with 221, and Bethlehem with 140.

Attempts to Establish Colonial Outposts and Seize Lands

Shaaban indicated that the settlers attempted to establish 18 new colonial outposts since the beginning of August, predominantly with an agricultural and pastoral nature, distributed among the provinces: Ramallah with 6 outposts, Nablus with 4, Hebron with 3, Bethlehem with 2, and one each in Jenin, Qalqilya, and Jericho.

He added that the occupation authorities seized 45 dunams of citizens' lands through 4 expropriation orders for military purposes, which included establishing a buffer zone around the "Eli Zahav" settlement in Deir Ballut in Salfit, constructing colonial roads in Deir Istiya, and establishing a military post in Tammun in Tubas.

Demolition and Restrictions on Palestinian Construction

Shaaban mentioned that the occupation authorities executed 57 demolition operations affecting 125 establishments, including 39 inhabited houses, 52 agricultural institutions, and 20 sources of livelihood, distributed across the provinces: Tubas with 44 establishments, Jerusalem with 23, and Hebron with 20. Additionally, the occupation authorities issued 21 notifications for demolishing Palestinian establishments, concentrated in the provinces: Jerusalem with 10, Bethlehem with 5, and 2 each in Nablus and Qalqilya, and one each in Jenin and Hebron.

Colonial Plans

The report indicated that planning bodies in the occupation state studied 31 structural plans for the benefit of settlements, including 27 for West Bank settlements and 4 within the municipal boundaries of occupied Jerusalem. They approved 15 plans for establishing 4492 new colonial units and submitted 12 plans for depositing 2328 colonial units over an area of 2,594 dunams. In Jerusalem, the municipality approved one plan and submitted 3 plans for depositing 229 colonial units over 9.443 dunams.

Shaaban affirmed that the escalation of attacks and the attempts to establish colonial outposts can only be interpreted as political instructions from the official level in the occupying state, aimed at imposing further facts on the ground and dividing Palestinian geography, which makes settlers and official companies partners in turning Palestinian lands into fully supported colonial sites with official services.