ISRAEL plans to seize a major historic site in the occupied West Bank, newly released government documents revealed today, as settlers set up new outposts and attacked Palestinian towns and villages.

According to the documents, Israel’s Civil Administration intends to expropriate large areas of Sebastia, an important archaeological site near Nablus. 

Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog, said the land amounts to about 1,800 dunams (450 acres), which would make it Israel’s largest seizure of archaeologically significant land to date. 

The ancient capital of the Israelite kingdom of Samaria is believed to lie beneath Sebastia’s ruins, and both Christians and Muslims consider it the burial place of John the Baptist.

Israel announced plans in 2023 to turn the site into a tourist attraction. 

Excavations are already under way, and more than 30 million shekels (£6.97m) have been allocated for development, rights groups say. 

Palestinians have been given 14 days to file objections.

Settler groups said they established a new unauthorised outpost near Bethlehem today after attacking Palestinians and damaging property. 

Yaron Rosenthal, head of the Etzion settler council, welcomed the move as a “return” to sites linked to biblical figures and said it would strengthen ties between Etzion and Jerusalem.

Elsewhere, dozens of settlers stormed the northern part of Huwara and set fire to a vehicle scrapyard, Wafa news agency reported. 

Near Ramallah, settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, beat four Palestinians who were trying to remove a soil barrier placed in front of their farm. 

The men were then arrested by Israeli forces.

Two Palestinian teenagers, Amr Khaled Ahmed Al-Marbou, 18, and Sami Ibrahim Sami Mashayekh, 16, were shot dead by Israeli forces in the Kafr Aqab area of occupied East Jerusalem. 

Witnesses said soldiers deployed snipers on rooftops and opened fire after storming the neighbourhood.

Settler attacks continued across the region, including the burning of six Palestinian-owned tourist villas under construction south of Nablus. 

The site’s guard was injured while trying to stop the flames. 

A plant nursery in Deir Sharaf was also vandalised.

Settler violence in the West Bank has been on the rise, with the UN saying there were at least 260 attacks last month.

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that senior Israeli officials should be investigated for war crimes, reporting that 32,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from three West Bank refugee camps this year during large-scale military raids. 

The group said more than 850 homes were destroyed or badly damaged and that residents have been prevented from returning.

Israel’s attacks on Gaza have also continued despite a ceasefire, with 33 people — mostly women and children in tents — killed within 12 hours on Thursday. 

The death toll from today’s attacks was not immediately available.