Families of Israeli settlers secretly entered eight buildings in the village of Jericho in occupied West Bank today. This action was carried out with the support of the settler organization Nachala and the Binjamin Regional Council, according to the Israeli NGO Peace.
Peace Now, which monitors illegal settlement expansion, stated in its declaration that the establishment of a settlement inside Jericho poses a threat to security and is an unacceptable diplomatic disaster. In the organization's view, this measure aims to escalate tensions and violence, establish an apartheid regime, and block any possibilities for a future political agreement.
According to information disseminated by various ultra-right media outlets, as well as testimonies from activists in the region and this NGO, about 30 settlers, some of whom were armed, arrived at noon today. They were accompanied by military personnel and members of the illegal settlement of Mevut Jericho, and occupied several houses in the village of Ein ad-Duyuk a-Tachta, located approximately two kilometers from the city of Jericho.
Video footage shows that the settlers took their belongings and attacked two Israeli activists, including Itamar Shapira, and wounded a Palestinian with bullets in the leg.
The Vice President of the Israeli Parliament, a settler, and a member of the Jewish Power party, Limor Sharmel, congratulated Nachala settler leader Daniel Weiss on her social media account X for 'acquiring eight houses in Jericho and reactivating the Jewish settlement in the city.' She added that they hope to 'settle in Gaza and all parts of the Land of Israel' in the future.
The settlement of Ein ad-Duyuk a-Tachta is located in Zone C (60% of the West Bank under full Israeli control), but only 500 meters from Zone A, according to the artificial division of the West Bank created in the Oslo Accords, which was supposed to expire in 1999. Recently, Ein ad-Duyuk a-Tachta has been subjected to daily attacks by settlers.
During July and August, settlers demolished numerous Palestinian dwellings without obtaining any permits, and also conducted organized attacks on the Palestinian population and their property.
Peace Now emphasizes that the archaeological site of the 'Hasmonean Palaces,' in which the Netanyahu government recently decided to invest 20 million shekels, is located approximately 500 meters from this location. Since 2023, the Israeli government, which includes extremist politicians and Zionist settlers, has created or legalized over a hundred new settlements in the West Bank, despite their illegality under international law.
