Illegal outpost settlers rapidly seizing land in occupied West Bank, BBC finds

Last October, Palestinian grandma Ayesha Shtayyeh says a antheral pointed a weapon astatine her caput and told her to permission the spot she had called location for 50 years.

She told the BBC the equipped menace was the culmination of an progressively convulsive run of harassment and intimidation that began successful 2021, aft an amerciable settler outpost was established adjacent to her location successful the occupied West Bank.

The fig of these outposts has risen rapidly successful caller years, caller BBC investigation shows. There are presently astatine slightest 196 crossed the West Bank, and 29 were acceptable up past twelvemonth - much than successful immoderate erstwhile year.

The outposts - which tin beryllium farms, clusters of houses, oregon adjacent groups of caravans - often deficiency defined boundaries and are amerciable nether some Israeli and planetary law.

But the BBC World Service has seen documents showing that organisations with adjacent ties to the Israeli authorities person provided wealth and onshore utilized to found caller amerciable outposts.

The BBC has besides analysed unfastened root quality to analyse their proliferation, and has investigated the settler who Ayesha Shtayyeh says threatened her.

Experts accidental outposts are capable to prehend ample swathes of onshore much rapidly than settlements, and are progressively linked to unit and harassment towards Palestinian communities.

Official figures for the fig of outposts bash not exist. But BBC Eye reviewed lists of them and their locations gathered by Israeli anti-settlement watchdogs Peace Now and Kerem Navot - arsenic good arsenic the Palestinian Authority, which runs portion of the occupied West Bank.

We analysed hundreds of outer images to verify that outposts had been constructed astatine these locations and to corroborate the twelvemonth they were acceptable up. The BBC besides checked societal media posts, Israeli authorities publications and quality sources to corroborate this and to amusement that outposts were inactive successful use.

Our investigation suggests astir fractional (89) of the 196 outposts we verified person been built since 2019.

Some of these are linked to increasing unit against Palestinian communities successful the West Bank. Earlier this year, the British authorities sanctioned 8 extremist settlers for inciting oregon perpetrating unit against Palestinians. At slightest six had established, oregon are surviving on, amerciable outposts.

In a connection to the BBC, a UK Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We powerfully condemn the unprecedented levels of settler unit against the Palestinian community, arsenic shown successful the report, and person urged the Israeli authorities to extremity the civilization of impunity and clamp down connected those responsible.”

A erstwhile commandant of the Israeli service successful the West Bank, Avi Mizrahi, says astir settlers are law-abiding Israeli citizens, but helium does admit the beingness of outposts makes unit much likely.

“Whenever you enactment outposts illegally successful the area, it brings tensions with the Palestinians… surviving successful the aforesaid area,” helium says.

One of the extremist settlers sanctioned by the UK was Moshe Sharvit - the antheral Ayesha says threatened her astatine gunpoint. Both helium and the outpost helium acceptable up little than 800m (0.5miles) from Ayesha's home, were besides sanctioned by the US authorities successful March. His outpost was described arsenic a “base from which helium perpetrates unit against Palestinians”.

“He’s made our beingness hell,” Ayesha says, who indispensable present unrecorded with her lad successful a municipality adjacent to Nablus.

Outposts deficiency immoderate authoritative Israeli readying support - dissimilar settlements, which are larger, typically urban, Jewish enclaves built passim the West Bank, ineligible nether Israeli law.

Both are considered amerciable nether planetary law, which forbids moving a civilian colonisation into an occupied territory. But galore settlers surviving successful the West Bank assertion that, arsenic Jews, they person a spiritual and humanities transportation to the land.

In July, the UN’s apical court, successful a landmark opinion, said Israel should halt each caller colony enactment and evacuate each settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel rejected the sentiment arsenic “fundamentally wrong” and one-sided.

Despite outposts having nary ineligible status, determination is small grounds that the Israeli authorities has been trying to forestall their accelerated maturation successful numbers.

The BBC has seen caller grounds showing however 2 organisations with adjacent ties to the Israeli authorities person provided wealth and onshore utilized to acceptable up caller outposts successful the West Bank.

One is the World Zionist Organization (WZO), an planetary assemblage founded much than a period agone and instrumental successful the constitution of the authorities of Israel. It has a Settlement Division - liable for managing ample areas of the onshore occupied by Israel since 1967. The part is funded wholly by Israeli nationalist funds and describes itself arsenic an “arm of the Israeli state”.

Contracts obtained by Peace Now, and analysed by the BBC, amusement the Settlement Division has repeatedly allocated onshore connected which outposts person been built. In the contracts, the WZO forbids the gathering of immoderate structures and says the onshore should lone beryllium utilized for grazing oregon farming - but outer imagery reveals that, successful astatine slightest 4 cases, amerciable outposts were built connected it.

One of these contracts was signed by Zvi Bar Yosef successful 2018. He - similar Moshe Sharvit - was sanctioned by the UK and US earlier this twelvemonth for unit and intimidation against Palestinians.

We contacted the WZO to inquire if it was alert that aggregate tracts of onshore it had allocated for grazing and farming were being utilized for the operation of amerciable outposts. It did not respond. We besides enactment questions to Zvi Bar Yosef, but received nary reply.

The BBC has besides uncovered 2 documents revealing that different cardinal settler organisation - Amana - loaned hundreds of thousands of shekels to assistance found outposts.

In 1 case, the organisation loaned NIS 1,000,000 ($270,000/£205,000) to a settler to physique greenhouses connected an outpost considered amerciable nether Israeli law.

Amana was founded successful 1978 and has worked intimately with the Israeli authorities to physique settlements passim the West Bank ever since.

But successful caller years, determination has been increasing grounds that Amana besides supports outposts.

In a signaling from a gathering of executives successful 2021, leaked by an activist, Amana’s CEO Ze’ev Hever tin beryllium heard stating that: “In the past 3 years… 1 cognition we person expanded is the herding workplace [outposts].”

“Today, the country [they control] is astir doubly the size of built settlements.”

This year, the Canadian authorities included Amana successful a circular of sanctions against individuals and organisations liable for “violent and destabilising actions against Palestinian civilians and their spot successful the West Bank”. The sanctions did not notation outposts.

The BBC contacted Amana to inquire wherefore it was providing loans utilized to found outposts. It did not respond.

There is besides a inclination of the Israeli authorities retroactively legalising outposts - efficaciously transforming them into settlements. Last year, for example, the authorities began the process of legalising astatine slightest 10 outposts, and granted astatine slightest six others afloat ineligible status.

In February, Moshe Sharvit - the settler Ayesha Shtayyeh says evicted her from her location - hosted an unfastened time astatine his outpost, filmed by a section camera crew. Speaking candidly, helium laid retired conscionable however effectual outposts tin beryllium for capturing land.

“The biggest regret erstwhile we [settlers] built settlements was that we got stuck wrong the fences and couldn’t expand,” helium told the crowd. “The workplace is precise important, but the astir important happening for america is the surrounding area.”

He claimed helium present controls astir 7,000 dunams (7 sq km) of onshore - an country greater than galore large, municipality settlements successful the West Bank with populations successful the thousands.

Gaining power implicit ample areas, often astatine the disbursal of Palestinian communities, is simply a cardinal extremity for immoderate settlers who acceptable up and unrecorded connected outposts, says Hagit Ofran of Peace Now.

“Settlers who unrecorded connected the hilltop [outposts] spot themselves arsenic ‘protecting lands’ and their regular occupation is to footwear retired Palestinians from the area,” she says.

Ayesha says that Moshe Sharvit began a run of harassment and intimidation astir arsenic soon arsenic helium acceptable up his outpost successful precocious 2021.

When her husband, Nabil, grazed his goats successful pastures helium had utilized for decades, Sharvit would rapidly get successful an all-terrain conveyance and helium and young settlers would pursuit the animals away, helium says.

“I responded that we’d permission if the government, oregon police, oregon justice tells america to,” Nabil says.

“He told me: ‘I’m the government, and I’m the judge, and I’m the police.’”

Through limiting entree to grazing land, outpost settlers similar Moshe Sharvit are capable to enactment Palestinian farmers successful progressively precarious positions, says Moayad Shaaban, the caput of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.

“It reaches a constituent wherever Palestinians don’t person thing anymore. They can’t eat, they can’t graze, can’t get water,” helium says.

Following the 7 October Hamas attacks connected confederate Israel and Israel’s warfare successful Gaza, Moshe Sharvit’s harassment became adjacent much aggressive, says Ariel Moran, who supports Palestinian communities facing settler aggression.

Sharvit had ever carried a pistol with him successful the fields, but present helium began approaching activists and Palestinians with an battle firearm slung implicit his enarthrosis and his threats became much menacing, Ariel says.

“I deliberation helium saw the accidental of taking a shortcut and not waiting for different twelvemonth oregon 2 years of gradually wearing them [Palestinian families] out.

“Just bash it overnight. And it worked.”

Many of the families, similar Ayesha’s, who accidental they near their homes pursuing threats from Moshe Sharvit, did truthful successful the weeks instantly pursuing 7 October.

Throughout the West Bank, OCHA - the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - says settler unit has reached “unprecedented levels”.

In the past 10 months, it has recorded much than 1,100 settler attacks against Palestinians. At slightest 10 Palestinians person been killed and much than 230 injured by settlers since 7 October, it says.

At slightest 5 settlers person been killed and astatine slightest 17 injured by Palestinians successful the West Bank implicit the aforesaid clip frame, OCHA says.

In December 2023, 2 months aft they accidental they were forced from their home, we filmed Ayesha and Nabil arsenic they returned to cod immoderate of their belongings.

When they arrived astatine the house, they recovered it had been ransacked. In the kitchen, the cupboards hung from their hinges. In the surviving room, idiosyncratic had taken a weapon to the sofas, slashing done the upholstery.

“I didn’t wounded him. I didn’t bash thing to him. What person I done to merit this?” Ayesha said.

As they began to benignant done the damage, Moshe Sharvit arrived successful a buggy. Before long, the Israeli constabulary and service arrived. They told the couple, and the Israeli bid activists accompanying them, that they had to permission the area.

“He hasn’t near thing for us,” Ayesha told the BBC.

We contacted Moshe Sharvit connected aggregate occasions to inquire for his effect to the allegations made against him, but helium did not respond.

In July 2023, the BBC approached him successful idiosyncratic astatine his outpost to question his effect to allegations and besides to inquire if helium would let Palestinians - similar Ayesha - to instrumentality to the area. He said helium didn’t cognize what we were talking astir and denied that helium was Moshe Sharvit.

Graphics by Kate Gaynor and World Service Visual Journalism team