Armed Israeli settler women storm Palestinian town, carry out military exercises

Israeli settlers stormed a town between the occupied West Bank areas of Nablus and Jenin.

Palestinian Authority official Ghassan Daghlas said dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the occupied town of ​​al-Masoudiya on Monday evening and conducted military training under the protection of the Israeli army.

The majority of the settlers who occupied the area were armed young men and women.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 600,000 Israeli Jews live in settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in a bid to illegally annex the Palestinian territory.

All Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank are classed as illegal under international law, with Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention stating that "the occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies".

The Oslo agreement of 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three: Area A, Area B and Area C. Area A is under the administrative and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA); Area B's administration is controlled by the PA, with Israel controlling security; Area C is under full administrative and security control of Israel.

Israeli forces and settlers routinely harass Palestinians in the occupied territories through harming and killing civilians, demolishing homes, poisoning livestock, vandalising property and other forms of violence.