Israel's military told Reuters the works were for security and to allow it to patrol the area following the killing of an Israeli civilian in August near the village by a man from another town. It did not detail what it was building there.

Israel's pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Israel's far-right finance minister, a leading advocate of annexation, is meeting with Trump administration officials this week.

A major offensive in the occupied West Bank which over several weeks has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and ravaged refugee camps increasingly appears to be part of Israel's "vision of annexation",