RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

Illegal Israeli settlers have established a new outpost northwest of Jericho in the eastern West Bank, the fifth in the same area, according to a Palestinian rights group.

Illegal settlers erected tents, brought in excavation and leveling equipment, and began fencing off the site in the Muarrajat area in recent days, the Al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights said in a statement.

The organization described the outpost as "one of the most dangerous recent developments" in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, warning that it is part of a long-term plan to Judaize open grazing lands and put pressure on long-established Bedouin communities.

“This isn’t just about claiming a plot of land—it’s a calculated political project disguised as a pastoral outpost,” the group said.

The new outpost marks the fifth such site along the Muarrajat road, a vital corridor linking northern and southern parts of the West Bank and separating Jericho from the central region, the statement added.

According to the statement, these outposts often begin as simple encampments but quickly evolve into fortified sites and eventually full settlements.

“Settlers operate as unofficial arms of the Israeli government,” the group said, “backed by weapons, public funding, and a permissive legal framework, while impoverished Bedouin communities are choked by restrictions.”

As of the end of 2024, approximately 770,000 illegal Israeli settlers lived in the West Bank, across 180 settlements and 256 outposts—including 138 classified as agricultural or pastoral, according to Palestinian reports.

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

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) last July declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.