After settlers enter Jericho area, Palestinian residents flee homes, say they are afraid to return

A resident of Ein ad-Duyuk at-Tahta, a suburb of Jericho that settlers entered yesterday after claiming they purchased eight homes in the Palestinian city, tells The Times of Israel that homeowners in the vicinity have been afraid to return to their homes since the settlers set up residence.

According to residents, the IDF blocked access to the area after the settlers’ arrival yesterday.

The new outpost is located in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli civilian and security control under the Oslo Accords, but is just meters from parts of Jericho that are in Area A, where the Palestinian Authority is meant to have full security and civilian control.

Over the past 20 years, the area has become home to Bedouin residents who live there permanently, as well as East Jerusalem residents who have built vacation homes and stay there intermittently.

According to an Israeli activist who asked not to be named, 65 permanent residents fled their homes yesterday after settlers pelted them with stones. A foreign activist was injured during the incident and evacuated for medical treatment.

The IDF has yet to comment on the incident.

The houses in the area taken over by settlers were built illegally on state land.

The settler organization Nachala claims to have purchased the houses, though it is unclear how the purchases could have been carried out, given that the land does not belong to the Palestinian residents of the area.