A new generation of Israeli settlers has returned to the former settlement of Kadim in the occupied West Bank, more than two decades after it was evacuated by a previous Israeli government.
About 30 families arrived at the site on Thursday from Tel Aviv, according to the regional settlers’ council, as Israel’s current government pushes ahead with policies supporting expanded Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
The settlers travelled in small groups, some accompanied by Israeli military personnel. Israeli flags flew from vehicles carrying trailers loaded with furniture, bedding and construction materials.
Government Reverses Settlement Ban
The return follows the Israeli government’s decision to overturn a two-decade-old ban on Jewish settlements in the area around Jenin.
Kadim was one of four settlements in northern Samaria evacuated in 2005 under a government-led disengagement plan. At the time, the settlements were considered isolated and costly to protect and were viewed by the government as having limited strategic value.
Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attended a ceremony marking the settlers’ return.
“21 years after the crime of expulsion from northern Samaria, we have completed the correction and have returned to the settlement of Kadim,” Smotrich said, using the biblical term for the northern West Bank.
Other senior Israeli officials, including Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, also attended the ceremony.
Yossi Dagan, head of the regional settlers’ council, said the return to Kadim represented a wider effort to re-establish Jewish settlements in the area. He also expressed support for a future return of Israeli settlers to Gaza.
Palestinian Residents Fear Further Expansion
The renewed settlement activity has raised concern among Palestinian residents living near the former settlement.
White trailer homes have recently appeared on the hilltop where Kadim once stood, as preparations were made for the arrival of the new settlers.
Palestinian residents say they are watching the development with apprehension, particularly as Israel’s government continues to support settlement expansion across the occupied West Bank.
Under international law, Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal. Israeli authorities, however, dispute the legal interpretation and have continued to support or authorise settlement activity.
Memories of the Former Settlement
A Palestinian vegetable farmer living near Kadim said he remembered the settlement being built when he was a child and later watching Israeli settlers leave during the 2005 evacuation.
The farmer, who has lived in the same home for 53 years, said relations between his family and the former settlers had once been relatively peaceful.
“Back then, the settlers were living alongside us, and we coexisted peacefully. They lived their lives and we lived ours,” he said.
The return of Israeli families to Kadim marks a significant change from the policy that led to the settlement’s evacuation in 2005.
The move is likely to further intensify debate over Israel’s settlement policy, Palestinian land rights and the future of the occupied West Bank amid already heightened tensions in the region.
