Illegal Israeli settlers have given 47 Palestinian families in the northern occupied West Bank until Sunday evening to vacate their homes following a punishing 27-day military blockade, a Palestinian rights organisation confirmed.
Hassan Mleihat, head of Palestinian rights organisation Al-Baydar, told Anadolu agency that the families confront an uncertain future following weeks of systematic road closures that have completely cut off the Ras al-Ahmar community, located south-east of Tubas.
Mleihat warned that the eviction ultimatum has deepened residents' fears over their ability to protect their livelihoods and remain on their ancestral land, issuing an urgent appeal to human rights groups, humanitarian organisations, and international bodies to halt the forced displacement and end the siege.
Encirclement by trenches
The ultimatum follows weeks of physical encirclement. In September, the Israeli military severed the final remaining route linking Ras al-Ahmar with neighbouring towns, having previously blocked all surrounding agricultural dirt roads.
Local resident Thaer Bisharat stated that movement restrictions have intensified steadily over the past three years, escalating dramatically when Israeli forces dug a deep trench across the community's last vehicular artery.
Bisharat explained that the military measure has left the population entirely hemmed in by trenches, concrete barriers, and designated military firing zones.
The imminent expulsion comes against a backdrop of surging violence across the occupied territory.
Illegal Israeli settlers have carried out more than 14,742 attacks across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, since October 2023, killing 66 Palestinians, according to official data published by the Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission.
