Israeli colonizers and occupation authorities began two new road projects Monday on Palestinian land in the Bethlehem and Jerusalem districts, aiming to expand illegal colonies and fragment surrounding Palestinian communities.
In the village of Kisan, east of Bethlehem, colonizers began carving a road through farmland west of the village, near the illegal colony of Ibei Hanahal, built on stolen Palestinian lands. The road is intended to facilitate the colony’s expansion and land seizure.
Local sources confirmed that colonizers also released livestock into Palestinian agricultural plots, damaging crops and asserting control.
Meanwhile, Israeli authorities began paving a road in the Jabal al-Tira area near Beit Duqqu, northwest of occupied Jerusalem.
According to the Jerusalem Governorate, the road is designed to connect and serve a newly established colonial outpost, further annexing land and severing Palestinian access between neighboring areas.
These projects are part of a broader strategy to entrench Israeli control through infrastructure.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has accelerated segregated road construction in the West Bank, with over 160 new gates and roadblocks added in less than a year. Many of these roads bypass Palestinian towns, isolate farmland, and serve only settlers.
The roads in Kisan and Beit Duqqu reflect a policy of territorial domination—using asphalt and bulldozers to redraw borders and erase Palestinian presence.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
