RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL

Illegal Israeli settlers established a new outpost on Friday on the lands of the town of Kafr Qaddum, north of the occupied West Bank, after months of seizing it by force, according to a Palestinian official.

Several illegal Israeli settlers stormed the northern area of the town, established an outpost, and moved about 10 caravans, tents, and their facilities there, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.

Murad Shtewi, the director of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission in the northern West Bank, told Anadolu that the transfer of the mobile homes to the settlement outpost “was carried out at night under the protection of the Israeli army.”

Shtewi, who is from Kafr Qaddum, said the lands the illegal Israeli settlers entered are “private property owned by the town’s residents, and the settlers have controlled it by force for several months while carrying out bulldozing operations there.”

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission documented 415 illegal Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians and their properties in May alone, ranging from armed attacks to land destruction, tree uprooting, and forced closures.

Since the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 986 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, the Health Ministry said.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.