SEAToday.com, Ramallah - Illegal Israeli settlers demolished 47 farm buildings and homes last week in Taybe area, west of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, according to Palestinians on Saturday (9/7).

Palestinians discovered the damage as they returned to their properties after being denied access by Israeli forces since early September, following a shooting incident that killed three police officers near the Turmus Ayya checkpoint.

One of the Palestinians affected by the demolition, Mohammed Tneina, reported severe damage to his home, vineyard, and water tanks used for irrigation.

‘Illegal settlers took advantage of the Israeli military's closure of the road to the Taybe area to carry out this act of destruction and demolition,’ he told Anadolu.

Tneina added that the damaged structures have permits from the Turmus Ayya municipality, but Israeli forces routinely prevent farmers from accessing their land.

He also noted that illegal settlers from the settlements of Adora and Tene, located east of Turmus Ayya, are responsible for attacks on farmers.

According to the Palestinian Commission for Resistance to Colonisation and the Wall, illegal settlers have killed 19 Palestinians, injured more than 785 others, and displaced 28 Bedouin communities since 7 October 2023.

At least 691 people have been killed and more than 5,700 injured by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank since then, according to the Health Ministry.

In a historic ruling in July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal, and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.