Hebron: A Palestinian family returned to their West Bank home on Monday after breaking their Ramadan fast to find Jewish settlers had taken over their building with Israeli soldiers blocking their path.
According to National News Agency - Lebanon, the seizure took place in Hebron at iftar time with a video of the incident showing settlers storming the building in the Tel Rumeida area and raising the Israeli flag. Soldiers prevented the building's Palestinian residents from returning to their homes.
"It is time to stop the absurdity that a handful of messianic settlers determine the foreign and security policy of an entire country," said the Peace Now advocacy group. The group criticized the Israeli government's handling of the situation, highlighting that settlers claimed ownership of the house, leading to military support that barred the Palestinian family from their property.
Israeli authorities refused to acknowledge the complaint from the family about the theft of their home, raising fears that the new settlement enclave will further restrict Palestinian movement in the neighborhood. Hebron is known for its heavy settler activity, with Palestinians in the city facing attacks by settlers and significant limitations on their civil liberties by Israeli forces, particularly in the H2 district.
Israeli forces have been deployed in large numbers to guard an Israeli settlement in the heart of Hebron, imposing severe restrictions on free movement for Palestinian residents. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights has expressed concern that settlement expansion in Hebron is changing the city's demographic makeup. This expansion coincides with Palestinian homes being demolished, land seized, and new settler outposts being established.
The expansion of Israeli settlements and the repression of Palestinians in the West Bank have intensified under Netanyahu's new far-right government, with some ministers residing in illegal settlements.