The liberal Israeli advocacy group Peace Now has released a report highlighting an alarming expansion of illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank during 2024.

 The liberal Israeli advocacy group Peace Now has released a report highlighting an alarming expansion of illegal Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank during 2024.

For the first time since the Oslo Accords of 1995, settlers have brazenly established seven outposts in Area B, which is supposed to be under the civil control of the Palestinian Authority (PA), though Israel retains security authority. Five of these outposts encroach on lands near Bethlehem, while two violate the lands of the Palestinian villages of Ein Yabrud and Turmus Ayya.

In total, 52 new outposts have been erected across the occupied West Bank this year alone, with 13.5% of these provocatively situated in Area B. These actions represent a blatant escalation in the theft of Palestinian land.