Léonie Chao-Fong (now); Richard Luscombe, Tom Bryant, Mabel Banfield-Nwachi, Emily Dugan and Helen Livingstone (earlier)Sat 6 Jan 2024 00.17 GMT

While the world’s attention has been focused on war in Gaza, Jewish settlers have quietly carried out an “unprecedented surge” of unauthorised moves in the occupied West Bank, an Israeli watchdog group has warned.

Watchdog warns of ‘unprecedented surge’ in unauthorised Jewish settlements in occupied W

A report by Peace Now found that settlers have established a record number of nine unauthorised settlement outposts since the start of the war in October. The group’s team said it had also documented the creation of more than a dozen new dirt paths and roads.

“The three months of war in Gaza are being exploited by settlers to establish facts on the ground,” the report said.

The group said that settlers were “disregarding the legal status of the land” by constructing outposts on private Palestinian lands and restricting Palestinian movement in the West Bank. The report continued:

The permissive military and political environment allow the reckless construction and land seizure almost unchecked, with minimal adherence to the law. The result is not only physical harm to Palestinians and their lands but also a significant political shift in the West Bank.

Most of the new outposts consist only of a few tents and an Israeli flag, the report said. But many such outposts have evolved into more permanent developments over the years.

Israel’s coalition government is dominated by supporters of the settler movement, including those who want to annex some or all of the West Bank. Most countries view all settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be a violation of international law.

source and more https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/jan/05/middle-east-crisis-live-updates-antony-blinken-israel-palestine-gaza-hamas