Iran war live: Trump claims war will end ‘very soon’, gives no details

Reporting from Ramallah, PalestineJust before this convoy of Israeli settlers raided the Palestinian town of Beitunia near Ramallah, Israeli forces had restricted Palestinians’ movement, closing roads leading to schools and businesses and bringing life to a halt.This is the largest group of settlers to make it here, coming the closest they have ever gotten to the town. Their excuse: to conduct prayers on Jewish holidays near a spring.It may be the most daring provocation to date, but it was not limited to Beitunia. Early on Monday, Israeli settlers raided the town of Kifl Haris, in the north of the occupied West Bank.Palestinians say settlers are using Jewish holidays to push into the heart of their towns and villages to lay claim to their lands, intimidate, and assault Palestinians. Prayers often precede land grabs, marking the sites for future illegal Israeli settlements or outposts. Ahead of the Israeli elections, Palestinians say the violence against them is calculated and part of the electoral campaign.In July, settlers kicked a Palestinian family out of their home in the middle of Jalud and occupied it for more than two months. The Israeli Supreme Court ordered the settlers to leave, ruling the family could return. But when they did, settlers attacked them an hour later and torched the house. Palestinians in the village and nearby areas were not spared.Now, settlers are lobbying to use this route, and the army is expected to grant them permission. The road leads to a hospital, a university, and a park, and connects neighbourhoods in Ramallah to one another and nearby suburbs.Allowing settlers to use this street will likely mean that Palestinians will have to use other roads, other parks, and other hospitals, or, as Israeli settlers and politicians alike have repeatedly stated, find life so unbearable, so restricted, and so difficult that they eventually leave.