LONDON: Israeli authorities began on Wednesday excavation and bulldozing work to build a new settlement near the city of Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank.
In January, authorities announced a plan to build a settlement on Palestinian-owned lands in the Mount Tarousa area, located west of Dura town in the Hebron governorate.
Settlers accompanied the forces that brought trucks, several caravans and water tanks as digging and bulldozing work began, according to the Palestine News Agency.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich visited Mount Tarousa on Tuesday to lay the foundation stone for the new settlement. Settlers pitched a tent and displayed a large sign announcing the establishment of “Doren” before that.
Israel seized the mount in the 1980s, preventing Palestinians in the area from building on it. The project aims to connect two settlements, Adora and Negohot, and will isolate about 50,000 people from easy access to the western part of Hebron.
