The Israeli occupation has begun constructing a new settlement road in the village of Artas, west of Bethlehem, in a move that threatens to confiscate more than 5,000 dunums of Palestinian land — nearly 70 percent of the village’s total area.

According to local officials, bulldozers began digging through the southern and western outskirts of Artas this week to connect the illegal settlements of Efrat and Tekoa. The project aims to link all southern settlements through the Route 60 bypass, forming a continuous colonial network across Bethlehem’s southern hills.

Lutfi Es’ad, head of the Artas Village Council, said that the occupation authorities notified the council of the new road plan two weeks ago but granted only a seven-day objection period — intentionally overlapping with Jewish holidays to block any effective appeal.

“The occupiers began digging even before any court ruling, proving that the plan had already been decided in advance,” Es’ad told local media, warning that the project would seize all lands classified as Area C and restrict access to key strategic sites such as Jabal Abu Zayd.

The occupation administration is reportedly justifying the seizure under claims of “state property” and “absentee ownership.” Residents have been given until November 19 to submit petitions, while simultaneous demolition, eviction, and “pre-1993 reconstruction” orders have been distributed to homes surrounding the planned route.

Local human rights groups said several of the targeted houses were built decades before the Efrat settlement was established in 1983, calling the measures arbitrary and politically motivated.

Es’ad further noted that “before the war on Gaza, we had begun surveying our lands to document ownership, but since then, the occupation refuses to recognize any Palestinian document.”

Residents, supported by human-rights organizations and lawyers from within the occupied territories, are trying to halt the project. “A de facto annexation is being implemented; legal frameworks no longer exist on the ground,” Es’ad warned.

The targeted area of Artas contains natural springs, historic structures, and one of Bethlehem’s most important ecological zones. Locals fear that continued encroachment will cause irreversible environmental and cultural damage.

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, settler groups known as the “Hill Youth” have set up new illegal outposts on the hills surrounding Artas, signaling that the annexation plan in southern Bethlehem is nearing completion.(ILKHA)