Land and settlement expert Abdelhadi Hantash said that since the start of its war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Israeli occupation has seized and destroyed vast areas of land in the West Bank—amounting to nearly 70% of the total area of Gaza.

Hantash explained that the targeted lands include thousands of dunams designated for settler grazing, most recently 8,000 dunams in the town of Dhahiriya, south of Hebron. It also includes areas located between the separation wall and Palestinian residential clusters. He noted that the expansion of settlements has reached nearly 100 square kilometers.

He added that approximately 17,000 residents in these areas are at risk of displacement, not including those already displaced from the refugee camps of Jenin, Nour Shams, Tulkarm, and Al-Ain—who number around 40,000 people.

Hantash further noted that since October 7, Israel has established 29 new settlement outposts in the West Bank, raising the total number to 360—an increase of about 120% compared to the period before the war.

He stressed that what is happening is a silent, gradual transfer plan aimed at emptying the land of its Palestinian inhabitants and erasing their presence—both on the ground and in history.