Palestinian official: Settlers' seizure of homes in (Jericho) is organized terrorism protected by the Israeli occupation government

Ramallah -- Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh on Thursday condemned the seizure of eight homes by settlers in the West Bank city of Jericho as organized terrorism backed by the Israeli occupation government. In a press statement, Fattouh denounced the settlers’ actions, stating that the Israeli occupation government is pushing the region and the world toward further conflict and violence by encouraging settlement, confiscating land, and enforcing displacement, in blatant defiance of international law and signed agreements. He stressed that Jericho is not open to plunder and that attempts to impose settlement there will not grant the Israeli occupation any legal right nor alter the reality that it is Palestinian land. He called for international measures and practical deterrent steps to hold those responsible for these crimes accountable and to halt the policy of colonial piracy before it escalates into uncontrollable facts on the ground.

The previous evening, settlers seized eight homes located in Area C, which constitutes 61 percent of the West Bank’s territory and falls under full Israeli control according to the Oslo peace agreements. Videos were circulated showing settlers and their families moving furniture into the vacated homes.

In a related development, the Jerusalem Municipality said in a statement that Israeli occupation machinery demolished five homes in the town of Beita, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, on Thursday morning, displacing 20 citizens under the pretext of construction without permits. It explained that Israeli occupation forces, accompanied by demolition machinery, entered the town following bulldozing of land and uprooting of trees in the vicinity of the military checkpoint established near Beita, northwest of occupied Jerusalem. The municipality added that Israeli occupation forces fired sound bombs and tear gas at residents and prevented them from evacuating their homes and removing belongings before commencing the demolition. It characterized the demolitions as part of a systematic policy of tightening restrictions aimed at undermining the Palestinian presence in the city and its surroundings, with the goal of displacing citizens from their homes and lands under the pretext of unpermitted construction.

In the same context, local sources reported that Israeli occupation forces demolished residential structures and livestock sheds in the northern Jordan Valley, while its bulldozers demolished a house in the village of Farah Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on the grounds of lacking a permit. (End)