In this July 7 article, Yumna Patel reports how residents of the Palestinian village of Beita are resisting occupying Jewish settlers who built an illegal outpost in the outskirts of their village two months earlier by setting up 45 caravans on top of Jabal Sabih, a mountain with olive groves that lies to the south of the city of Nablus. The outpost, known as ‘Eviatar’, was established and expanded with the protection of the Israeli army. Like all other Jewish settlements established in the occupied West Bank, the outpost is illegal under international law. The outpost is also illegal under Israeli law, because settlers did not seek the approval of the authorities before beginning construction. But this has not stopped the Israeli government from providing the settlers with electricity, roads and water lines.
Palestinian villagers have protested every day since Eviatar was established. The Israeli army responded with live ammunition, tear gas and drones, resulting in five deaths and over a thousand injuries. 77 residents of the village have been killed since the occupation began, including Mohammad and Ahmad, 16 and 17-year-old schoolfriends who were killed during the recent unrest.
In late June, the new Israeli government signed an agreement with the settlers, under which the settlers would leave the settlement while the structures illegally set up by the settlers on Palestinian lands would stay and be converted to a Yeshiva school. Palestinian residents, who would still be stripped of their lands under the new agreement, have said they will continue to resist until the outpost is removed.
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