Israeli settlers are seizing Palestinian land under cover of war - they hope permanently [View all]

[muriel_volestrangler]

Part of a Unesco World Heritage site, Battir is known for its olive groves and vineyards. But now it is the latest flashpoint over settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has approved a new Jewish settlement here, taking away privately owned land for new settler houses and new outposts have been set up without even Israeli authorisation.
...
Israeli authorities, meanwhile, have announced plans for five new settlements, external, including the one in Battir, and declared a record area of land, at least 23 sq km, external, for the state. This means Israel considers it Israeli land, regardless of whether it is in the occupied Palestinian territories, or privately owned by Palestinians, or both, and Palestinians are prevented from using it.

By changing facts on the ground, as the settlers describe it, they hope to move enough Israelis on to the land and build enough on it to make their presence irreversible. Their long-term hope is that Israel formally annexes the land.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c624qr3mqrzo

This is "settler colonialism". With IDF support - the article describes how first the illegal settlers blocked the BBC from driving to one of the areas, and then the IDF arrived to back them up.