Global condemnation rises over escalating violence in the West Bank

Violence in the West Bank has continued to escalate, with Israeli forces frequently raiding refugee camps and damaging local infrastructure. A group of Jewish settlers recently stormed a local water supply station and vandalized pipelines, disrupting the lives of some 100,000 nearby Palestinians. The water facility has now been attacked and damaged seven times.

Israel's security cabinet approved decisions on Sunday to deepen Israel's control over the occupied West Bank and the expansion of the Jewish settlement there, a minister said.

Right after that, Israeli troops carried out operations in Gaza and Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 8 people.

Israel's recent decisions to deepen control over the West Bank and expand Jewish settlements there have raised broad Palestinian concerns over potential land confiscation and threats to regional stability.

Palestinian officials and residents told an agency that the decisions breached previous agreements and could escalate tensions, targeting the core of the conflict over land and identity and potentially marking a new phase of comprehensive Israeli control.

"Restrictions on agriculture and construction could force owners to abandon their land indirectly," said Rami Nubani, a 55-year-old farmer in Nablus in the northern West Bank. "Despite this pressure, I will not sell. This land is our legacy."

Nubani expressed concern that the new measures could threaten his farmland near the village of Salem, an area witnessing rapid settlement expansion.

"I inherited this land from my father, and he inherited it from his father," Nubani told Xinhua. "It has been cultivated with olives and almonds for decades. The land is not just a source of livelihood, but part of our family identity."

The Palestinian presidency on Sunday described the decisions as "illegal, null and void," saying that they constitute "the practical implementation of annexation and displacement plans."

On Monday, the foreign ministers of eight Arab and Muslim countries condemned in the strongest terms the "illegal" Israeli decisions aimed at entrenching settlement activity. Later, the EU and the UN also voiced condemnation over the Israeli move, calling it "another step in the wrong direction" and having "no legal validity."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated on Monday that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and their associated regime and infrastructure, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law.

In a statement, Guterres' spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the UN chief is gravely concerned by the reported decision of the Israeli security cabinet to authorize a series of administrative and enforcement measures in areas A and B of the occupied West Bank.

"He warns that the current trajectory on the ground, including this decision, is eroding the prospect for the two-state solution," the statement said.

"Such actions, including Israel's continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are not only destabilizing but, as recalled by the International Court of Justice, unlawful," it said.

The secretary-general calls on Israel to reverse these measures and, on all parties, to preserve the only path to lasting peace, a negotiated two-state solution, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions and international law, the statement added.

(With input from Xinhua)