SALFIT, Tuesday, May 30, 2023 (WAFA) – Scores of armed Israeli settlers today set up several tents on Palestinian-owned lands in Kharbit Shehada area near Deir Istia town, to the west of the occupied West Bank city of Salfit, which is usually an indication to taking over the lands, according to local activists.

Nazmi Salman, a local activist, said that dozens of Israeli settlers from the illegal colonial outpost of Hfat Y`aer, built on Deir Istia lands, set up tents, in preparation to seizing the lands in favor of settlement expansion.

This step aims to link settlements built on lands of Deir Istia and Qarawat Bani Hasan, to each other and cut off the roads linking lands to the two villages.

Kharbit Shehada, which occupies an area of 3000 dunums, has been a regular target to settlers’ attacks who are attempting to seize it in favor of expanding the illegal settlement of Hfat Y`aer, Salman added.

The governor of Salfit, Abdullah Kamil, said that such policy aims at seizing the largest area possible of ​​the citizens' lands in the Salfit governorate, under flimsy pretexts.

Y.S./K.T.