Israeli settlers have set up a new outpost in the village of Battir in the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Last week, a group of Israeli settlers, accompanied by armed Israeli soldiers, arrived at a mountaintop on the outskirts of Battir, famous for its lush green hilltops and ancient terraces.
Since the settlers set up the outpost, Israeli forces have been patrolling the area, and preventing any Palestinians from getting into the area.
In 2014, UNESCO declared Battir a World Heritage Site, a decision made in an expedited process due to plans at the time to build a part of the Israeli apartheid wall on it.
The village is famed for its ancient terraces and Roman-era irrigation system, which is still used by villagers for their crops.
The landscape encompasses a series of agricultural valleys with stone terraces irrigated for the production of vegetables, vines and olive trees.
It is dotted with ancient villages, fortifications and graves.
The majority of the land in Battir was declared by Israel as Area C, and has long been the target of Israeli settlement expansion.
The village is located in the centre of a corridor of Israeli settlements that run from lands south of Bethlehem up to occupied East Jerusalem.
According to Israeli non-governmental data; there are about 666,000 settlers, 145 large settlements and 140 random outposts in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
