Illegal Israeli settlers displaced 15 Palestinian families from their homes Wednesday in the village of Duyuk al-Tahta, west of Jericho in the occupied West Bank, local sources told Anadolu Agency.

About 50 illegal settlers, accompanied by a bulldozer and an Israeli military vehicle, attacked the village, the sources said.

The settlers began demolishing homes made of tin and concrete belonging to 15 families, forced residents out, looted their belongings, livestock and vehicles, and prevented them from returning, the sources added.

Israel has intensified operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since launching its military campaign in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinians view the escalation — including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion — as a step toward formal annexation of the territory.

According to the Palestinian government’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the Israeli military and illegal settlers carried out 1,872 attacks against Palestinians and their property in January in a continued systematic terror.

The attacks included physical assaults, uprooting trees, burning fields, blocking farmers from accessing their land, seizing property and demolishing homes and agricultural structures, displacing 125 Palestinian families.

The violence has killed at least 1,112 Palestinians, injured about 11,500 others and led to the arrest of more than 21,000 people, according to official Palestinian figures.

On Sunday, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved measures aimed at changing the legal and civil status quo in the West Bank and strengthening Israeli control over the territory.

Israel was established in 1948 on land where Zionist armed groups expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Israel later occupied the remaining Palestinian territories and has rejected calls to withdraw and allow the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.