Israeli occupiers reestablish illegal Ganim settlement near Jenin in West Bank after 21 years

Israeli forces closed roads to secure occupiers, ministers and settlement leaders taking part in move, Palestinian news agency Wafa reports

Israeli occupiers on Thursday reestablished the illegal Ganim settlement on Palestinian land east of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, 21 years after it was evacuated under Israel’s 2005 disengagement plan, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Israeli forces closed entrances and side roads along the main route from Haddad Roundabout to the Al-Jalama military checkpoint, saying the measures were intended to secure occupiers and their leaders taking part in the reestablishment of the illegal settlement, the agency said. Participants included Yossi Dagan, head of the so-called northern West Bank settlements council, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and members of the Knesset, according to Wafa. Tariq Ighbariya, head of the settlement file in Jenin province, said the occupiers’ return to Ganim represented “a dangerous development” that redraws Jenin’s geopolitical map and imposes new facts on the ground. “The reestablishment of the settlement would cut the province apart, turn the area into something resembling a military barracks, increase attacks and confrontations, and threaten geographical continuity between Palestinian communities,” he said. “The move reflects the dominance of occupiers and settlement councils over the extremist occupation government and undermines the possibility of establishing a geographically contiguous Palestinian state,” Ighbariya added. The reestablishment of Ganim comes days after Israel began demolishing 27 Palestinian buildings in Jenin province, while far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the demolitions were paving the way for renewed settlement there. In late 2025, the Israeli government approved the reestablishment of Ganim and Kadim, near Jenin, as part of a decision to establish or reorganize 19 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. In March 2023, the Knesset amended the “disengagement plan” law, removing restrictions that had barred Israelis from entering and residing in areas of the northern West Bank evacuated in 2005. The plan had provided for withdrawal from four illegal settlements and permanent military installations in the area, allowing Palestinian geographical contiguity in the northern West Bank. Israel has begun rolling back restrictions linked to the plan in recent years. According to the latest UN secretary-general’s report on settlements, Israeli authorities advanced or approved plans to build 4,750 settlement units in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, between March 14 and June 12. On March 25, the Israeli government also approved the establishment or legalization of 34 illegal settlements in Area C of the occupied West Bank, the largest number approved in a single Israeli government decision, according to the same UN report. UN Security Council Resolution 2334 affirms that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including occupied East Jerusalem, have “no legal validity” and constitute a flagrant violation of international law.