"The Wall and Settlement": 1659 Attacks Carried Out by the Occupation Army and Settlers in May

SadaNews - Minister Mou'id Sha'ban, head of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, stated that the Israeli occupation forces and settlers carried out a total of 1659 attacks during the month of May, continuing the systematic terrorism practiced by the occupation state against the Palestinian people, their lands, and properties.

Sha'ban explained in the monthly report of the commission issued today, Saturday, that the occupation army executed 1108 attacks, while the settlers carried out 551 attacks.

He indicated that the total attacks were concentrated mainly in the governorates of Hebron and Ramallah equally, with 319 attacks in each, followed by Nablus with 301 attacks and Bethlehem with 212 attacks, indicating a clear focus on these areas.

Sha'ban clarified that the attacks varied and intensified, including direct physical violence, uprooting trees, burning fields, preventing farmers from accessing their lands, seizing properties, in addition to demolishing houses and agricultural facilities.

He noted that these practices coincide with the closure of large areas of Palestinian lands under the pretext of security, while providing protection and support to the settlers to enable them to expand within those areas.

Two Martyrs Shot by Settlers and Ongoing Peak of Terrorism

Sha'ban stated that the settlers' attacks, which amounted to 551, continue to represent a peak of the settlers' terrorism targeting Palestinian villages and Bedouin communities, concentrated in the provinces of Hebron with 146 attacks, Ramallah and Al-Bireh with 132 attacks, and Nablus with 126 attacks by settlers, adding that settler attacks have reached 2567 since the beginning of the year 2026.

He added that the settlers caused the martyrdom of two citizens in the past May in the provinces of Salfit and Ramallah, as the young man Qusay Rayan (29 years old) was shot by settlers, dying in custody days after being injured, while the child Youssef Ka'abneh (16 years old) was martyred on land in Jaljulia due to direct gunfire by settlers, bringing the number of martyrs at the hands of settlers since the beginning of the year 2026 to 17 martyrs.

He added that settlers carried out 380 acts of vandalism of properties and land leveling, and 78 acts of confiscation and theft of Palestinian properties, as their attacks targeted vast areas of Palestinian lands. Additionally, settler actions, with the assistance of the occupation army, led to the uprooting, destruction, and poisoning of 7222 trees, including 3317 olive trees, in the provinces of Hebron with 3293 trees, Ramallah and Al-Bireh with 30 trees, Nablus with 1370 trees, Qalqilya with 1168 trees, Bethlehem with 448 trees, Jenin with 723 trees, and Salfit with 190.

Sha'ban emphasized that these figures clearly reveal the implementation of systematic policies to impose a coercive environment that translates into forced displacement operations executed through settler terrorism and direct protection by the occupation authorities. He explained that these practices aim to empty the land from its owners and undermine the Palestinian presence, especially in Bedouin communities. He added that the displacement of families and the destruction of properties, lands, and trees constitute a compound crime targeting both the people and the place, and are part of a gradual annexation project managed through organized escalation in violence, which has not stopped despite the clear nature of it and the ongoing international condemnations.

Attempt to Establish 12 New Settler Outposts

He mentioned that settlers attempted to establish 12 new settler outposts since the beginning of last May, primarily characterized by agricultural and pastoral characteristics, in both the provinces of Nablus with an attempt to establish 6, two new outposts in Salfit, and one outpost in each of Hebron, Bethlehem, and Ramallah and Al-Bireh, and Qalqilya.

Sha'ban confirmed that the escalation of attempts to establish settler outposts in the recent period can only be by clear instructions from the political level in the occupation state aimed at imposing realities on the ground and further fragmenting the Palestinian geography, as settlers take on the task of making changes on the ground, then the official level takes over turning this change into a fait accompli by legislating and solidifying it, converting it into a settlement site with all services.

The Occupation Seized 283 Dunams of Citizens' Land

Sha'ban stated that the occupation authorities seized a total of 283 dunams of citizens' land last May through a series of military orders aimed at establishing three military sites in the Jenin governorate, in the Jabriyat neighborhood in the city of Jenin, and the villages of Zbda and Qabatiya, while the fourth order aimed at establishing a buffer zone around a settlement on the lands of the city of Yatta in the Hebron governorate.

Additionally, the occupation authorities issued an order to declare a total of 400 meters of land in Kafr Deek in the Salfit governorate as state land for the benefit of the settlement "Leshem," and through an expropriation order, they seized a total of 177 dunams from the city of Al-Bireh and the village of Beitin for the benefit of building a settlement road connecting the outpost "Givat Asaf" erected on the lands of the governorate.

Furthermore, the so-called Blue Line team added a total of 3 dunams from the lands of the village of Kufr Qaddum east of Qalqilya to previously confiscated areas from 1989, bringing the total confiscation in this piece to 21 dunams.

Sha'ban emphasized that these declarations come at a dangerous political moment, in which legislations, structural plans, confiscation decisions are integrated with colonial tenders, forming a comprehensive system aimed at imposing irreversible facts on the ground according to the occupation discourse and converting the occupation from a temporary situation into a permanent system of coercive sovereignty.

Demolition of 155 Structures and Notifications for the Demolition of 51 Others

He pointed out that the occupation authorities executed during May 70 demolition operations affecting 155 structures, including 39 inhabited houses, 2 non-inhabited houses, 99 agricultural facilities, and 8 sources of livelihood, concentrated in the provinces of Qalqilya with 57 structures, Jerusalem with 50 structures, 14 in Hebron, 11 in Bethlehem, and 12 in Ramallah and Al-Bireh.

Sha'ban indicated that the occupation authorities distributed 51 notifications to demolish Palestinian structures, continuing the series of restrictions on Palestinian construction and natural growth of Palestinian villages and towns, which has been translated in recent days by a significant intensity of demolition operations. The notifications were concentrated in the provinces of Bethlehem with 22 notifications, Hebron with 17 demolition notifications, then Jerusalem with 7 notifications, and two notifications each in Jenin and Salfit and one in Salfit.

Study of 19 Structural Plans for Settlements

Sha'ban added that planning authorities in the occupation state studied a total of 19 structural plans for settlements in the West Bank and within the boundaries of the occupation municipality in Jerusalem, with 10 structural plans for West Bank settlements and 9 plans for settlements within the occupation municipality limits in Jerusalem.

He clarified that the occupation municipality in Jerusalem submitted 4 structural plans for subsequent approval and approved 5 others, while planning authorities affiliated with the civil administration studied 10 structural plans for West Bank settlements, approving 8 structural plans and submitting 2 plans for subsequent approval, aiming to build a total of 657 settlement units on an area of 6491 dunams.

Sha'ban noted that the maps attached to the structural plans indicated the occupation authorities' approval of two large plans, one concerning the settlement of Taffuh, established on citizens' lands in the Nablus governorate, specifically lands of the village of Yasouf in the eastern governorate. The plan numbered יוש/ 1/ 7/ 901 aimed at expanding a settlement road over an area estimated at 4,693 dunams, extending for 18 kilometers. Additionally, a plan targeted the lands of the Jordan Valley through an expansion plan for the settlement of Mas'ouda, established on lands of Nablus governorate, with the plan numbered יוש/ 1/ 6/ 312 aiming to build 517 settlement units on an area of 1692.2 dunams of citizens' lands.