Palestinian Authority arrests suspects involved in sale of Jericho homes to settlers

The Palestinian Authority has arrested several suspects in connection with the sale of West Bank homes on the outskirts of Jericho to Israeli settlers, in violation of PA laws.

Palestinian Authority security forces spokesman Anwar Rajab told Palestinian radio that those arrested are suspected of involvement in the “takeover of land in the Ad-Duyuk area of Jericho.”

Last week, several dozen settlers associated with the Nachala settlement organization took up residence in eight buildings in the Jericho suburb, which Nachala said it had purchased in a secretive operation it announced only once the settlers had entered the homes.

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The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that those arrested by the PA were brokers involved in transferring the homes to settlers and that they had been remanded in custody for 15 days.

Palestinian Authority law prohibits the sale of land to an “enemy state” or its citizens, including Israeli citizens. In practice, the provision is enforced primarily against sales to Israeli Jews, rather than Arab citizens of Israel.

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Ad-Duyuk al-Tahta, where the homes were purchased, is located in Area C of the West Bank, which is under full Israeli civil and security control under the Oslo Accords. It is adjacent to Jericho, a city of over 20,000 people, which is in Area A and under full PA control.

According to reports, the homes purchased by the settlers are located on Israeli state land, and the Palestinians who built them did so illegally. The settlers claimed to have purchased the homes with the cooperation of the Binyamin Regional Council, a state-funded settlement municipal authority.

The Binyamin Regional Council also claimed the buildings are on state land. But it is unclear how the council would have been able to purchase the land if it had not been privately owned by Palestinians.

Settler groups have been accused of pressuring Palestinians and falsifying documents in order to carry out such takeovers of Palestinian property, with such cases more common in the West Bank city of Hebron.

Multiple attacks reported across West Bank

The sales took place as settler violence surged in recent months, with daily attacks and harassment, and as few perpetrators have been charged or convicted. The attacks, some of which have targeted diplomats or the press, have sparked widespread international backlash. Critics accuse the outgoing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes far-right parties, of failing to address the issue and preventing security forces from taking action.

Violence continued Monday, with Palestinian media outlets publishing footage of a settler slapping a Palestinian woman in the Khallet al-Hummus area of the South Hebron Hills in the southern West Bank.

The settler is seen grazing a flock of sheep near the entrance to what is, according to reports, the Palestinian woman’s home. After slapping her, he says, “Don’t come near me. Are you threatening me with a stick?”

Another settler is seen standing beside him and filming the incident.

In another incident, Palestinian media outlets reported that settlers set fire to three excavators and several other vehicles in an industrial area near the village of Beita, south of Nablus, in the West Bank.

Footage that circulated on social media showed fires in several locations.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

A few hours earlier, settler-affiliated media outlets reported that Palestinians had set fire to two vehicles at an outpost in the area. No injuries were reported in that incident either.

10 Palestinians affiliated with Islamic Jihad arrested — IDF

Meanwhile, 10 Palestinians affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group, whom the military said were planning to carry out an attack on Israeli civilians, were captured during a raid in the West Bank.

The IDF said soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit and the Duvdevan Commando Unit, along with Border Police officers, raided the village of Arraba near Jenin, following intelligence provided by the Shin Bet security agency.

The troops simultaneously raided 10 different buildings in the village, locating all 10 wanted suspects within half an hour, according to the military.

The IDF said the suspects had acted to “establish a terror network to carry out an attack against Israeli civilians” in the northern West Bank area.

The suspects were handed over to the Shin Bet and Israel Police for further questioning.

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