Settlers hang Israeli flags in the West Bank — Al Jazeera
In the occupied West Bank, Palestine, Israeli settlers are hanging hundreds of Israeli flags along the road between Jenin and Nablus, which is frequently used by Palestinians. The simultaneous appearance of flags, new roads, mobile homes and settlement outposts is changing the region’s familiar landscape, Al Jazeera English reports.
Changes along the roads
Twenty-five-year-old Taghreed Yahya, who travels every day from Kafr Rai to central Jenin, told the outlet that the changes along her route make her feel sadness, anger, fear and helplessness. At the same time, she said, they strengthen her attachment to the land, memory and identity.
Photographer Faten Abdel Hadi, who regularly travels between Qalqilya, Nablus, Tulkarm and Salfit, said that significant changes on the roads occurred in less than two months — between June and August. She mentioned settlers’ mobile homes, flags and their gatherings along main roads.
In Arraba, according to Al Jazeera, after dozens of olive trees belonging to Palestinian residents were uprooted, groups of Israeli settlers hung flags on a bypass road in the northeastern part of Jenin. The outlet notes that such campaigns often take place with the assistance of Israeli military raids that ensure control over the territory.
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Settlement expansion
After October 7, 2023, settlement expansion and Israeli military raids intensified in the West Bank. According to the human rights organization B’Tselem, Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians since then, while the 66th Palestinian village has been ethnically cleansed.
The Palestinian Commission Against Colonization and the Wall reported that Israeli authorities considered 113 plans for the expansion or establishment of new settlements in the first half of 2026. Khaldoun al-Barghouti, a researcher at the Palestinian Research Center, believes that placing flags is a tactic for asserting Israel’s physical and psychological presence in Palestinian territories.
According to al-Barghouti, this practice is intended to create the impression among Palestinians that settlers will remain on this land forever, while the presence of Palestinians themselves is temporary. He also linked such actions to attempts to influence Palestinians’ perception of their existence on their own land.
