Settlements

Smotrich announces expansion of West Bank's Highway 465, pushes for new level of 'safety, security'

"The doubling of this important road will create a completely different level of safety, security, and quality of life," said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a statement announcing the project.

Highway 465's expansion was approved.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever walks as members of the parliament applaud, at the Belgian Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.

'Point of no return': Belgium becomes fourth European country to ban imports from West Bank

The Israeli army near the border fence with Gaza, southern Israel. February 09, 2026.

IDF declares closed military zone ahead of Nahala group's march to Gaza with Smotrich, Ben-Gvir

View of Karmei Tzur settlement north of Hebron, in the West Bank, November 24, 2025.

EU reiterates its call on Israel to refrain from more expansion of settlements


What makes someone a settler? The loaded politics of a single word - explainer

In a region where every word can carry ideological weight, the question of who gets labeled a “settler” isn’t just about where someone lives. It’s about who they are and what they stand for.

 SETTLERS HURL stones at Palestinians during the annual harvest season, near the settlement of Yitzhar in 2020.

Misguided sanctions: Nations punish Smotrich, Ben-Gvir for protecting Israelis - opinion

Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have the audacity to believe that Israeli citizens deserve protection from violence, a principle one might assume would be universally accepted.

 An illustrative image of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and former national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Fact, fiction, or both: A closer look at settler violence in the West Bank

SETTLEMENT AFFAIRS: A new report from right-wing organization Regavim explores instances of supposed settler violence in the West Bank.

A Palestinian house after an incident with Israeli settlers in Bruqin village near Salfit, in the West Bank last month.

Opposing forces failed 'beat the settlers': Time to join the Jews of the West Bank - opinion

Israel should be allowed to annex, govern, and secure Judea and Samaria. It’s time to set aside archaic, failed ideas and look for ideas that can improve the lives of the people in the region.

 PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu is flanked by Defense Minister Israel Katz (right) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in the Knesset plenum in 2025.

Adara Peskin Shalem: The foraging expert who fights for LGBTQ+ awareness in Orthodox circles

Jerusalemite of the Week: Adara Peskin Shalem turned foraging for food to save money into a profitable business. Now she's also fighting for LGBTQ+ awareness in her Orthodox Jewish community.

 Adara Peskin Shalem

'Don’t threaten us with sanctions': Katz visits West Bank as new settlements approved

Katz also criticized French President Emmanuel Macron and others who support the recognition of a Palestinian state, saying such efforts would be meaningless.

 An illustrative image of Defense Minister Israel Katz.

‘We are crying for you’: Hundreds mourn at funeral of 15-day-old baby terror victim Ravid Gez

Baby Ravid was born via emergency C-section after prolonged resuscitation efforts failed to save his 30-year-old mother, Tzeela Gez.

Hananel Gez, father of two-week-old Ravid Haim, who was delivered after his mother Tzeela Gez was shot dead in the West Bank while driving to the hospital with her husband to give birth, carries him during his funeral, in Jerusalem, May 29, 2025. Haim died two weeks after his birth by emergency C-se

Israel approves 22 West Bank settlements amid war with Hamas, pressure for Palestinian state

Legal Affairs correspondent Sarah Ben-Nun explains the context of settlement approval, touching on expansion during the Israel-Hamas War, IDF operations in the West Bank, and more.

A general view of houses in the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the West Bank

Gov't approves establishment of 22 new West Bank settlements

The decision includes plans to renew settlement activity in northern Samaria and develop new communities along the Jordan Valley border.

 A map of 22 areas in the West Bank that were approved for new Israeli settlements, May 29, 2025.

Ireland to press ahead with trade ban on areas it claims are Israeli-occupied

As Ireland does very little trade with the settlements, the ban is a "symbolic move," following the country's official recognition last year of Palestine as a state.

PROTESTERS CALL on the Irish government to impose sanctions on Israel, in Dublin, last month. Over the years, Ireland has taken a more anti-Israel position than most European or Western nations, states the writer.