Israel issues four land seizure orders in northern West Bank
The orders cover about 165 dunams in Qalqilya, Nablus, Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley, and settlers set up a new outpost near Hebron.
Israel issued four military orders on Tuesday to seize Palestinian land in the northern occupied West Bank, Turkey's state-run news agency Anadolu Agency reported.
The orders cover 165 dunams (40.7 acres) in Qalqilya, Nablus, Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley, the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said.
The commission said the orders authorize new seizures and widen areas already covered by earlier orders, citing military purposes.
It linked the measures to plans for buffer zones around settlement outposts, wider roads serving settlements and stronger military positions.
The commission warned that the effects could reach beyond the land directly targeted by limiting Palestinian access to nearby areas.
Separately, the Palestinian rights group Al-Baidar said settlers set up a new outpost in the Humsa area near Dura, south of Hebron.
Al-Baidar warned that the outpost would allow further encroachment on Palestinian land and could make it harder for residents to remain there.
The commission recorded attempts to establish 28 settlement outposts across the West Bank in October, nine of them in Hebron governorate.
It estimated that Israel has seized or brought under its control about 64,000 dunams (15,814 acres) through 231 military orders and measures since October 2023.
Official Palestinian figures put the settler population at about 750,000, living in 194 settlements and 400 outposts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in occupied territory illegal under international law, a position Israel rejects.
