Israel returns to Ganim: Illegal settlement re-established near Jenin after 21 years
An aerial drone photo taken on 13 August 2026 shows the West Bank settlement of Ganim
The Palestine Chronicle reports on 13 August 2026:
Key Developments
- Israeli settlers reestablished the illegal Ganim settlement east of Jenin on Thursday, 21 years after its evacuation.
- Israeli forces closed roads while senior ministers, lawmakers and settlement leaders participated in the return.
- The move came days after Israel began demolishing Palestinian structures near Ganim and Kadim to facilitate renewed settlement activity.
Israeli settlers on Thursday reestablished the illegal Ganim settlement on Palestinian land east of Jenin, 21 years after Israel evacuated the site under its 2005 disengagement plan.
According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, Israeli occupation forces closed entrances and secondary roads along the main route between Haddad Roundabout and the Al-Jalama military checkpoint to secure the settlers and Israeli officials participating in the move.
Among those present were Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, Knesset members and Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, which represents illegal settlements in the northern occupied West Bank.
The development effectively reverses another element of Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the northern West Bank, under which Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sa-Nur were evacuated.
‘Fragment the Governorate’
Tareq Ighbariyeh, the official responsible for settlement affairs in Jenin governorate, warned that the return to Ganim represented a “dangerous development” that would alter the geopolitical landscape around Jenin.