Israeli occupiers establish illegal settlement outpost east of occupied Jerusalem

Israeli occupiers established an illegal settlement outpost Wednesday near the Al-Mahtoush Bedouin community in the Khan al-Ahmar area east of occupied Jerusalem, as part of efforts to expand settlement activity in the area, the Jerusalem Governorate said.

Israeli occupiers began installing mobile homes and agricultural structures about 100 meters from residents' houses in the Al-Mahtoush community in Khan al-Ahmar, the governorate said in a statement.

The move came days after occupiers extended a water line between homes in the community, in what the governorate described as an escalation aimed at pressuring Bedouin residents, restricting grazing areas and imposing new settlement facts on the ground.

Khan al-Ahmar, located east of occupied Jerusalem, is one of the Palestinian areas most targeted by Israeli illegal settlement activity. Palestinians and international rights groups warn that displacement of its residents would sever geographic continuity between the northern and southern occupied West Bank and undermine prospects for a contiguous Palestinian state.

The development came a day after far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank was accelerating, claiming the establishment of 160 settlement farms and approval of more than 100 new illegal settlements since he took office.

Settlements in occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law and are considered by the UN a major obstacle to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Since the start of the war in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have escalated attacks in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, through killings, arrests, forced displacement and illegal settlement expansion.

The escalation has killed 1,173 Palestinians, injured 12,666 others, led to the arrest of about 24,000 and displaced 33,000, according to official figures.