Israel restores West Bank settlement, as minister demands occupation of Gaza
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Mera Aladam
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Mon, 04/20/2026 - 08:27
The Israeli government has also agreed to rebuild three settlements dismantled in the West Bank in 2005
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the re-establishment of a settlement in the Palestinian village of Sanur, southwest Jenin, occupied West Bank, 19 April 2026 (Shir Torem/Reuters)
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Israel has re-established a settlement in the Palestinian village of Sanur, 20 years after it was dismantled as part of Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
The village, located southwest of Jenin, is the latest project amid an acceleration of settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, which has risen sharply since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza in 2023.
Several Knesset members and Israeli ministers, including Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, participated in the ceremony celebrating the restoration of the settlement on Sunday.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are regarded as illegal under international law.
During the event, Smotrich said the decision marks a "national holiday" and "historic correction" to the "sinful expulsion" from the occupied territory, referring to Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, which saw the dismantling of all settlements in the coastal enclave as well as four others in the West Bank.
The Israeli government has also agreed to rebuild the three other settlements removed in 2005 from the West Bank.
"We are abolishing the disgrace of expulsion, killing the idea of the Palestinian state, and returning to the settlement of Sa-Nur. This is a day of celebration for the settlement movement and a national holiday for the State of Israel," said Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement.
The far-right minister also called for restoring settlements in Gaza to create a "security belt for Israel".
Israeli settlers celebrate the re-establishment of a settlement in Sanur, southwest Jenin, occupied West Bank (Shir Torem/Reuters)
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi described the move on Sunday as a "dangerous escalation" targeting Palestinian presence.
In a statement, the group stressed that this is an "unprecedented stage of settlement expansion, which falls within the so-called annexation plan and the complete control of the West Bank and Palestinian land".
Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 illegal settlements across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, all of which have been built since Israel seized the territories in the 1967 Middle East war.
Expansion amid settler violence
Earlier in April, Israel’s cabinet secretly approved a record number of new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli news channel i24NEWS.
Amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, the government ratified 34 new settlements in a single decision - more than half the total approved during the previous record-setting year of 2025.
These 34 new settlements come on top of 68 already approved by the current government since 2022, alongside nearly 200 unauthorised outposts established during the same period.
Israeli cabinet 'secretly approves record number' of new West Bank settlements
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According to the peace advocacy group Peace Now, 54 settlements were approved by the Israeli government last year - an all-time high, breaking the previous record of nine in 2023. Of these, 26 were unauthorised outposts retroactively legalised by the government.
The report also noted a surge in unauthorised outposts, reaching 86 – almost 40 percent higher than the previous year, averaging one to two new outposts per week.
The reopening of the Sanur settlement comes amid a surge in settler violence.
Recent weeks have seen dozens of Israeli settlers carry out attacks against Palestinians, including the torching and vandalising of infrastructure, shooting at civilians and destruction of property.
A United Nations report released on 17 March recorded that more than 36,000 Palestinians were displaced in the West Bank between November 2024 and October 2025 amid spiking settler attacks.
During the same period, 1,732 incidents of settler violence causing casualties or property damage were documented – up by 25 percent from the previous year.
According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, over 1,151 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023 by Israeli forces or settlers.
Israel's genocide in Gaza
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