Israeli settlers steal more Bedouin areas in the West Bank
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Almost all signs of Palestinian Bedouin presence have disappeared from the area near Tekoa settlement, raising fears of settlers stealing more lands and kicking Bedouin tribes out.
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Palestinian shepherd Mustafa Arara, 24, stands in the ruins of the West Bank Bedouin village of al-Baqa, on August 9, 2023. (AP)
Israeli settlers are intensifying their efforts for a land grab of vast rural areas in the West Bank which are witnessing a total displacement of the Bedouin tribes in the area, and this displacement is going unnoticed, according to The Guardian.
Settler activity is well-documented in the area of the West Bank under Israeli security and administration under the Oslo Accords, however, settlers are focusing their efforts on the mostly rural areas, which are supposed to be under Palestinian control.
The desert area located between Beit Lahm and the Dead Sea near the settlement of Tekoa has lost all evidence that Bedouin tribes once resided there. Meanwhile, Palestinians are facing off with settler violence supported by far-right Israeli politicians and police forces.
The area near Tekoa was only recently emptied, with most of the Israeli settler efforts to push the Bedouin out starting after October 7, when the West Bank saw a massive uptick in settler violence and land grabs, according to Yoni Mizrachi, a researcher at Peace Now, a settlement monitoring group.
Mizrachi pointed out that the area is now mostly empty except for some Israeli settler illegal outposts which are being framed as "farming" shacks, however, these shacks are simply a way to enforce the Israeli control of this area.
"In 2024 I counted 59 new illegal outposts," he told The Guardian, referring to the entirety of the West Bank, adding, "It was a record year. A new one every week. Before, you might see between zero and 10 to a dozen in an average year."
Settlers eye West Bank as land grabs increase
Palestinians in the West Bank are losing more land as armed Israeli settlers up their efforts to take over more and more land in the area, as the occupation pushes for the annexation of the West Bank, most recently by pushing a bill that would rename the West Bank "Judea and Sumeria".
Shepherds in the West Bank have been getting harassed by settlers who were building "temporary" shepherding outposts, refusing to leave the area, and using weapons and dogs to intimidate Palestinians who try to push back.
Israeli advocates of land theft are relying on the United States to help push for more Israeli control over the area, with settlement activity reaching an all-time high and settlers taking over hilltops and illegal settlements growing more than ever under Netanyahu.
After Trump took office, settlers started drawing up plans to take over the West Bank and annex it, focusing on usurping Palestinian territories and expanding the authority of settler councils to control interconnected regions rather than just settlements.
Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich announced the seizure of almost 6,000 acres of West Bank lands last December, classifying them "State Lands" and expanding illegal settlements including Ma'ale Adumim, Migdal Oz, and Susya.
The declaration represents nearly half of the lands stolen by "Israel" from the West Bank under the guise of classifying them "State Lands" since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.
