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SALFIT (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers raided lands in the northern West Bank with bulldozers on early Tuesday morning in order to level the area to prepare it for expansion of the nearby Ariel settlement block, a witness said.

Settlers razed the lands north of Bruqin village west of Salfit to prepare it for the construction of factories that will be a part of the adjacent Jewish-only settlement area.

The settlers, who are from the nearby Brukhin settlement, also chopped 10 olive trees in the Wadi Baqdonis area north of the village.

Researcher Khalid Mali said that "the factories in the Ariel settlements are expanding," and highlighted that settlers have been confiscating lands from the Palestinian villages and areas of Bokin, Salfit, Sarta, Haris, and Kifl Haris.

The expansions also threaten a local historic site called al-Shams w al-Qamar, an ancient Roman village with large pools and terraces.

More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.

The internationally recognized Palestinian territories of which the West Bank and East Jerusalem form a part have been occupied by the Israeli military since 1967.