Israeli settlers erect tents for new illegal outpost near Ramallah amid village sieges

Israeli settlers erected a series of tents in the Wadi Zeytun region near Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah, to launch a new illegal outpost, according to field reports. The development would raise the total of outposts surrounding the neighboring villages to six, with a parallel outpost being set up in Burqa on the same day. In the nearby village of Qusra, a siege on three families entered its second week, leaving fifteen Palestinians, including two children, confined in their homes while soldiers alternated guard duties and removed a settler-built tent.

Separate attacks were documented in Beit Imrin, where settlers stormed a house and detained occupants before Israeli forces arrested nine people, and in Turmus Aya and the al-Jaabari neighbourhood of Hebron, where residents were injured and medical aid blocked. Palestinian agencies reported that settlers have taken most of the land in Umm Safa and Burqa, and that Israeli forces have intensified arrests in areas where outposts have been established. UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese condemned the actions as a form of ethnic cleansing, while Mustafa Barghouti warned of a dangerous escalation aimed at annexation and displacement.