Israeli settlers today set up tents on Palestinian-owned lands in the village of Jabaa, to the west of Bethlehem city, which is usually a prelude to taking over the land, according to the village’s head of council Diab Mashaleh.
He said that scores of Israeli settlers, heavily protected by occupation forces, stormed the western area of the village adjacent to a military checkpoint and set up tents.
This step shows settlers’ intention to seize the lands in that area in order to expand the illegal settlement of Beit Ayim in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, said Hassan Breijieh, director of the local office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Committee.
Hundreds of settlers have come to the area where tents were set up and many others are being brought in buses.
