Settlers Establish Settlement Outpost Near Jab'a North-East of Jerusalem

SadaNews: The Jerusalem Governorate reported that settlers have established a new pastoral settlement outpost near the Ma’azah Bedouin community in the north of occupied Jerusalem, as part of the accelerating expansion of pastoral outposts which today represent one of the most prominent tools of the Israeli colonial project in the Jerusalem Governorate, aimed at imposing control over Palestinian lands, isolating Bedouin communities, and creating conditions for their forced displacement.

The governorate explained that the number of settlement outposts in the Jerusalem Governorate has reached about 23 outposts, most of which are concentrated in the eastern and northern belts of the governorate, compared to the existence of 37 Bedouin communities inhabited by more than 7,000 citizens, all of which are facing escalating pressures targeting their existence and continuity.

It pointed out that the pastoral outposts no longer represent temporary settlements but have become an organized colonial tool that the occupation authorities use to expand control over Palestinian lands outside the boundaries of existing settlements, by seizing mountain tops, hills, and natural pastures, before gradually converting them into permanent settlement points linked to the settlements and Israeli infrastructure.

It added that attacks on Bedouin communities have become patterned and systematic, beginning with control over strategic heights, followed by the establishment of pastoral outposts that gradually expand, creating a new reality that prevents citizens from accessing their agricultural lands and pastures, restricts the movement of the population, and leads to the fragmentation of the Palestinian geographical extension. Thus, these violations have become a systematic settlement tool, especially in the eastern and northern belts of the governorate, where pastoral settlement is used to control vast areas of Palestinian land and prevent their owners from benefiting from them.

The governorate indicated that the Bedouin communities, specifically those extending from Mukhmas in the north to the Wadi al-Nar in the south, are facing a continuous series of violations that start with depriving them of infrastructure and essential services, reaching land and property confiscations, in light of daily assaults carried out by settlers, including attacks on citizens and herders, theft of livestock, destruction of wheat and barley crops, cutting water lines, and preventing access to natural pastures, while the occupation forces provide protection for these assaults and simultaneously carry out incursions and arrests of citizens, thus reinforcing the policy of restriction and forced displacement.

It noted that the first half of 2026 witnessed a marked increase in settlers' assaults in the Jerusalem Governorate, documenting 269 assaults, including 52 that involved direct physical harm to citizens. These assaults resulted in the martyrdom of three Jerusalemites: Nasrallah Muhammad Jamal Abu Siyam from Mukhmas, Murad Shweiki from Al-Eizariya, and Muhammad Faraj al-Malhi from Sharfat, in addition to injuries sustained by several citizens from various wounds and contusions.