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These images appear again and again – from the ground, from the air, and on maps: dozens of Palestinian communities wiped off the landscape, while illegal Israeli settler outposts continue to spread across the West Bank.
Since October 7, 2023, this phenomenon has intensified significantly. Unlike the war in Gaza, there is no discussion in Israel about ending this parallel campaign of dispossession. Quite the opposite: large quantities of weapons have been distributed to settlers, who have since carried out retaliatory raids on Palestinian communities while Israeli authorities stand by. Jewish settler violence goes unchecked. So does the illegal construction of new outposts. The Judea and Samaria District Police have been reduced to irrelevance. This state of affairs has allowed for a dramatic transformation on the ground.
A case in point is Khirbet Zanuta, a village in the southern West Bank that was home to around 250 people. In 2021, a new settler outpost, Meitarim Farm, popped up nearby. It didn’t take long for threats and attacks to begin. The settlers made their intentions clear: the violence would stop only if the residents left.
For two years, the villagers resisted, holding on to their homes and community. The police offered no help, no protection. By the end of October 2023, just a few weeks after the war broke out, they could no longer hold on and left. The same happened to 35 residents of the nearby community of Anizant.
After their departure, settlers demolished the village structures and fenced off the land. When residents tried to return, the state prevented them from rebuilding their homes.
AnizanZanuta
Satellite imagery: Google Earth
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