Kathmandu— Israeli settlers have erected tents for new illegal outposts near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, with separate groups simultaneously besieging the village of Qusra for a week, according to reports from Al Jazeera and Palestinian news agency Wafa. The construction attempts in Wadi Zeytun and Burqa are occurring alongside escalating attacks on Palestinian communities, including home raids, detentions, and obstruction of medical access. UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has condemned Israel’s actions, asserting that the country is utilizing settlers to advance a policy of ethnic cleansing within the West Bank.

Escalating Outpost Construction

Settlers pitched tents in the Wadi Zeytun area near Umm Safa and began establishing another outpost in Burqa on Sunday, aiming to expand Israel’s presence in the occupied territory. Wafa reports that if completed, these new outposts would bring the total surrounding the two neighboring villages to six. According to Al Jazeera’s Tharwat Shakra, settlers have already seized approximately 4,700 of Umm Safa’s 4,800 dunams (1,160 acres) and 10,000 of Burqa’s 12,000 dunams (2,471 acres).

Siege and Attacks on Qusra Village

The village of Qusra has been under siege by Israeli settlers for a week, with three families besieged in their homes. Fifteen Palestinians, including two children, remain trapped inside. While Israeli soldiers dismantled one settler-built tent in the Ras al-Ain area of Qusra, they later erected another and rotated positions in front of residents’ homes. Municipal crews were able to restore electricity and water lines to the besieged families after intervention. Additional attacks occurred in Nab’a al-Kaabneh near Taybeh and an attempted raid on a home in Turmus Aya, both in the Ramallah district.

Violence Spreads Across the West Bank

Beyond Qusra, settlers attacked a Palestinian home in Beit Imrin, north of Nablus, detaining those inside before Israeli forces arrived and arrested nine people. Soldiers also blocked access for Palestinian Red Crescent teams and confiscated keys to ambulances and medical vehicles. Attacks in Hebron’s al-Jaabari neighbourhood left several Palestinians injured, some by gunfire, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society reports that arrests have increased in towns where illegal outposts are being established, targeting residents who resist the attacks.

UN Condemns ‘Ethnic Cleansing’

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, described Israeli settler violence and the siege of Qusra as part of a decades-long pattern of impunity that has reached “a climax.” She stated Israel is obligated to protect civilians but appears instead to be collaborating with settlers. “Israel has outsourced coercion to the settlers and is using them to advance ethnic cleansing,” Albanese said, labeling it a crime and an act of terrorism demanding investigation and prosecution. She further asserted that Israel’s actions represent a continuation of the ‘Nakba’ – the 1948 displacement of Palestinians – utilizing war crimes and potential acts of genocide.

The situation in the West Bank remains highly volatile, with escalating violence and continued expansion of illegal settlements. Mustafa Barghouti called for international pressure on Washington to halt Israeli actions in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

(With inputs from Al Jazeera)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.