Israeli authorities have denied Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa permission to visit Palestinian towns and villages in the occupied West Bank that have been repeatedly targeted by illegal settlers, a Palestinian official said Saturday.
Mouayed Shaban, head of the Colonization and Wall and Resistance Commission, told Anadolu that Israel refused to coordinate Mustafa’s planned visit to the villages of Burqa and Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah, and Duma and Qusra, south of Nablus.
These areas have faced continual attacks by illegal settlers, exacerbated by the Israeli military’s involvement.
Shaban explained that, under agreements between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, the movement of Palestinian officials requires coordination due to the presence of protective security forces accompanying them. However, this coordination was rejected by Israeli authorities, marking a “dangerous precedent,” Shaban said.
The refusal came after illegal settlers reportedly launched a campaign of incitement against the premier, pressuring the Israeli government to block the visit, a move which the Israeli government subsequently adopted.
Reports indicate that by the end of 2024, there were approximately 770,000 illegal Israeli settlers living in the occupied West Bank across 180 settlements and 256 outposts, including 138 classified as agricultural and pastoral settlements.
Tension has been high in the occupied West Bank, where at least 952 Palestinians have been killed and over 7,000 others injured since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, according to Palestinian figures.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land illegal and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.