JERUSALEM, Friday, September 20, 2019 (WAFA) – Chairman of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Walid Assaf, said today that an open-ended sit-in has started at Al-Mintar locality, east of Jerusalem, in protest of Israel’s plan to build an illegal settlement outpost in the area.

Speaking at a press conference in Al-Mintar, he said the new settlement outpost is part of a series of measures by the Israeli occupation authorities, aimed at dividing the West Bank into separate cantons.

Assaf pointed out that during the past nine months, the Israeli government and settler groups built nine outposts across the West Bank, saying this might risk dividing entire Palestinian cities and towns from each other.

Earlier in the day, Israeli occupation forces closed all roads leading to Al-Mintar in an effort to prevent the sit-in, but many Palestinians, including government officials, were able to reach the site via alternative, longer roads. Some were even forced to walk on foot to reach the sit-in area.

M.N