Israel Legalizes 19 West Bank Settler Outposts, Reversing Disengagement Policy - West Bank
The Israeli government has finalized the legalization of 19 previously unauthorized settler outposts in the West Bank, effectively completing the repeal of the Disengagement Law, which led to the evacuation of several Israeli settlements in 2005.
The move effectively completes the overturn of the evacuation of four former northern West Bank settlements – Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur in 2005 – which were isolated and situated in the heart of the Palestinian population between Nablus and Jenin.
The move was officially announced on Sunday by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said "This is righting a historic injustice of expulsion from 20 years ago. We are putting the brakes on the rise of a Palestinian terror state.
"We will continue to develop, build and settle the inherited land of our ancestors, with faith in the righteousness of our path," the minister added.
In his statement, Smotrich said the government has approved 69 outposts over the past three years.
Included in the 19 newly authorized outposts are Ganim and Kadim, two of the former Israeli settlements which were evacuated in 2005 and which border the Palestinian city of Jenin, an area considered by the IDF to be a terrorist hotspot, where it has conducted multiple military operations in response to rising terror threats it has identified over the past year.
The move to legalize the four former settlements began in March 2023, when Israel's Knesset passed an amendment to the Disengagement Law. The amendment effectively paved the way for the reestablishment of the settlements by allowing Israelis to access areas previously evacuated under the disengagement and to restore previously revoked rights to hold titles to land in those areas.
The four settlements in the northern West Bank were established in the 1980s. As the Oslo Accords took effect, the four settlements became isolated enclaves designated as Area C, under full Israeli control, in an area that was predominantly designated Area A, under full Palestinian control. They also became situated in areas that were otherwise designated as Area B, intended to be an Israeli settlement-free zone in which planning authority was given to the Palestinian Authority while Israel maintained security control.
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The four settlements created two narrow Area C corridors, which disrupted Palestinian territorial contiguity in the area. However, once the 2005 Disengagement Law barred an Israeli presence in the area, the settlements were evacuated.
In his statement, Smotrich said that the four sites are "very strategic areas for settlement, with the main point being the reestablishment of the settlements of Ganim and Kadim in northern Samaria," he said, using the Jewish name for the northern West Bank.
The reestablishment of the settlements is expected to force a heavier military presence in the area, which is mostly under Palestinian civilian and military authority. It also contradicts the Disengagement Law's principle that "a permanent presence of Israeli security forces and civilians will not be permitted in northern Samaria."
Since the disengagement, settlers have established numerous illegal outposts in the area, as in the rest of the West Bank, and the pace has picked up significantly since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023. These outposts enveloped the northern West Bank from three sides due to the territorial limitations set by the Disengagement Law.
In May 2023, two months after the amendment to the Disengagement Law was approved by Israel's Knesset, a military order was given to cancel enforcement of the law around the Israeli settlement of Homesh, essentially allowing Israelis to enter the previously-evacuated territory.
A year later, in May 2024, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant broadened the law, permitting Israelis to access the places where the Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim settlements were located. Simultaneously, the IDF Central Command signed an order barring civilians from entering the area without coordination with the army.
The final legalization of the settlements evacuated in 2005 could take many more years, but the legal infrastructure for returning to the area under armed military guard has been laid with the government's latest decision. As is common in the West Bank, full legalization will happen after the fact, if at all.
The security cabinet of the current government has approved the legalization of unauthorized outposts three times. In February 2023, nine unauthorized outposts were legalized, including Givat Arnon and Shaharit. In June 2024, five more illegal outposts were cleared, including Evyatar. In May, it legalized another 22 unauthorized outposts, including Sa-Nur and Homesh.
A list of the illegal outposts discussed on Thursday indicates that at least three additional outposts came up, some of them bordering Area B.