Israeli occupation forces embarked today on the construction of a settler-only road on Palestinian-owned land near the village of Hizma, to the northeast of occupied Jerusalem, according to WAFA correspondent.

He said staff from the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem backed by army units embarked on levelling works near the village in order to make way for the new road, which is expected to serve colonial Israeli settlers in the area. The land where the works are taking place belong to residents of Hizma.

Three months ago, the Israeli High Court rejected an appeal by residents of the villages against the confiscation of Palestinian-owned land in the village, a local center in Hizma said.

The village is surrounded by four Israeli settlements, and is connection point for the north and south of the occupied West Bank.

Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal in international law which bans the transfer of the population of the occupying power to the land of the occupied.