Khaberni - Israeli families began moving on Thursday to Kadim in the northern occupied West Bank, the last of four settlements that Israel has reopened after more than 20 years since its withdrawal.
Last week, Israel officially reopened the nearby Ganim settlement, in a move that embodies the current government's policy based on rapid expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are considered illegal under international law.
The Regional Council of Settlements in the northern West Bank said that 30 families would be moving on Thursday to settle, accompanied by the extreme right-wing Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the council head, Yossi Dagan.
Kadim is one of the four settlements evacuated by Israel as part of the "Disengagement Plan" initiated by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2005, due to its isolated location in the north of the West Bank among many Palestinian towns and villages.
But under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, the most right-wing in Israeli history, there has been a significant boom in the construction and expansion of settlements, including the reconstruction of Ganim, Sanur, Homesh, and Kadim.
The settlements in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, where 3 million Palestinians live, are illegal under international law.
The current population of these settlements is estimated to be about half a million, not counting the settlers in occupied East Jerusalem who number more than 200,000.
Violence in the West Bank has escalated since the outbreak of war in Gaza following the unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, especially settler attacks on Palestinians, which have become daily.
