Israeli settlements,also called Israeli colonies,are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens,almost exclusively of Jewish identity or ethnicity,and have been constructed on lands that Israel has militarily occupied since the Six-Day War in 1967. The international community considers Israeli settlements to be illegal under international law,but Israel disputes this. In 2024,the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found in an advisory opinion that Israel's occupation was illegal and ruled that Israel had "an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities and to evacuate all settlers" from the occupied territories. The expansion of settlements often involves the confiscation of Palestinian land and resources,leading to displacement of Palestinian communities and creating a source of tension and conflict. Settlements are often protected by the Israeli military and are frequently flashpoints for violence against Palestinians. Furthermore,the presence of settlements and Jewish-only bypass roads creates a fragmented Palestinian territory,seriously hindering economic development and freedom of movement for Palestinians.
Hilltop Youth are extremist Religious Zionist settler youth operating in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. They are known for establishing outposts without an Israeli legal basis and conducting settler violence against Palestinians there.
The population statistics for Israeli settlements in the West Bank are collected by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. As such,the data contains only population of settlements recognized by the Israeli authorities. Israeli outposts,which are illegal by Israeli law,are not tracked,and their population is hard to establish. All settlements in the West Bank were advised by the International Court of Justice to be unlawful.
Gush Katif was a bloc of 17 Israeli settlements in the southern Gaza Strip. In August 2005,the Israel Defense Forces removed the 8,600 Israeli residents from their homes after a decision from the Cabinet of Israel. The communities were demolished as part of Israel's unilateral disengagement from Gaza.
The Yesha Council is an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The Hebrew acronym Yesha is created from Yehuda Shomron,Aza.
Kedumim,is an Israeli settlement in the northern West Bank. Founded on Hanukkah 1975 by members of the Gush Emunim settlement movement,it later became a local council. In 2022 it had a population of 4,548.
Demographic features of the population of the area commonly described as the Palestinian territories includes information on ethnicity,education level,health of the populace,economic status,religious affiliations and other aspects of that population.
Homesh was an Israeli settlement in the West Bank along Route 60,just south of the Palestinian towns of Silat ad-Dhahr and Fandaqumiya,illegally built over private Palestinian land. The settlement was under the administrative jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. In 2005,the settlement homes were demolished along with three other settlements in the northern West Bank,at the same time as the Israeli disengagement from Gaza.
Caravan is an Israeli term referring to a portable building used as a living space,school classroom,synagogue,or community center.
Adei Ad is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank. Located near Shvut Rachel and Qusra,it falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. A resident of Adei Ad says that the outpost includes about 40 families. Adei Ad gained international attention in January 2015,when residents allegedly engaged in throwing rocks at a delegation from the U.S. embassy.
Havat Gilad is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank,which was established as an unauthorized outpost in 2002,after which it was dismantled by official forces and rebuilt by settlers several times until being granted legal status by the Israeli government in February 2018. The outpost was set up in 2002 in memory of Gilad Zar,son of Moshe Zar and security coordinator of the Shomron Regional Council,who was shot and killed in 2001.
This is a timeline of the development of and controversy over Israeli settlements. As of January 30,2022 the West Bank settlement population was 490,493 and the settler population in the Golan Heights was almost 27,000 and in East Jerusalem the settler population was around 220,000.
The Kedumim bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on May 30,2006 in a vehicle near the Israeli settlement of Kedumim in the West Bank. Four Israeli civilians were killed in the attack.
The price tag attack policy,also sometimes referred to as mutual responsibility,is the name originally given to the attacks and acts of vandalism committed primarily in the occupied West Bank by extremist Israeli settler youths against Palestinian Arabs,and to a lesser extent,against left-wing Israeli Jews,Israeli Arabs,Christians,and Israeli security forces. The youths officially claim that the acts are committed to "exact a price from local Palestinians or from the Israeli security forces for any action taken against their settlement enterprise".
Amana is an Israeli settlement movement formed by Gush Emunim in 1976. Its primary goal was "developing communities in Judea,Samaria,the Golan Heights,the Galilee,the Negev and Gush Katif." The initial communities it developed were Ofra,Mevo Modi'in,Kedumim,and Ma'aleh Adumim. Settlements developed in the West Bank,including East Jerusalem,are illegal under international law.
Bezalel Yoel Smotrich is an Israeli far-right politician and lawyer who has served as the Minister of Finance since 2022. The leader of the National Religious Party–Religious Zionism,he previously served as a Knesset member for the Jewish Home and Yamina,leaving in 2023 after resigning under the Norwegian Law,allowing him to remain a minister in the government while his seat in the Knesset could be taken by another candidate from his party.
Palestinians are the target of violence by Israeli settlers and their supporters,predominantly in the West Bank. In November 2021,Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz discussed the steep rise in the number of incidents between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank,many of which result from attacks by residents of illegal settler outposts on Palestinians from neighboring villages. Settler violence also includes acts known as price tag attacks that are in response to actions by the Israeli government,usually against Palestinian targets and occasionally against Israeli security forces in the West Bank.
Limor Son Har-Melech is an Israeli politician. She has served as a member of the Knesset for the Otzma Yehudit party following the 2022 Israeli legislative election.
Nachala is a radical Israeli settler organization that aids younger settlers and builds new Israeli outposts in the West Bank. Their ambition is for Israel to annex both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
Israel had dismantled its settlements in Gaza in its unilateral withdrawal from the area in 2005,after 38 years of settlers living in the Gaza Strip,and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that,"Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population," he further alleged that,"Israel is fighting Hamas terrorists,not the Palestinian population,and we are doing so in full compliance with international law". In the context of the Israel–Hamas war,some Israelis have proposed expulsion of or creating conditions leading to the exodus of Palestinians from the area and a new wave of resettlement of the Gaza Strip.
