RAMALLAH, Palestine 

Illegal Israeli settlers demolished 47 agricultural structures and homes last week in the Taybe area in the west of Hebron in the southern West Bank, Palestinians reported on Saturday.

The destruction was discovered by the Palestinians upon their return to their properties after being barred from accessing them by Israeli forces since early September, following a shooting incident that killed three police officers near the Turmus Ayya checkpoint.

Mohammed Tneina, one of the Palestinians affected by the demolitions, reported extensive damage to his home, his grape vineyard, and a water tank used for irrigation.

“Illegal settlers took advantage of the Israeli military’s closure of roads leading to the Taybe area to carry out these acts of vandalism and destruction," he told Anadolu.

Tneina pointed out that the affected structures were licensed by the Turmus Ayya municipality, yet the Israeli occupation forces regularly prevent farmers from accessing their lands.

He noted that illegal settlers from the illegal Adora and Tene settlements, located east of Turmus Ayya, are responsible for such attacks on farmers.

According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal settlers killed 19 Palestinians, injured over 785 others, and displaced 28 Bedouin communities since Oct. 7, 2023.

In May, the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem revealed a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to expel Palestinian farmers and shepherds from their land in the occupied West Bank, in collaboration with illegal settlers. This was described as part of an "Israeli apartheid system."

Israeli estimates suggest that over 720,000 illegal settlers live in settlements across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Tensions have intensified throughout the occupied West Bank as Israel persists in its offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 40,900 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since last Oct. 7.

At least 691 individuals have been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli gunfire in the occupied West Bank since that time, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion in July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful, and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi