West Bank: Settlers return to the settlement that was evacuated in 2005. Smotrich: ‘Let’s kill the idea of a Palestinian state’

Overnight, Israeli security forces dismantled two illegal outposts built on the outskirts of Qusra and the neighbouring village of Jalud. Both were located in Area B of the West Bank, where civil administration is entrusted to the Palestinian Authority whilst Israel retains responsibility for security matters. The IDF reported that it had demolished the structures, confiscated equipment and arrested an Israeli citizen.

However, the operation did not bring the crisis to an end. Despite the dismantling of the outposts, some settlers have once again been spotted near Palestinian homes. To reinforce security measures, the army has deployed the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade to the northern West Bank, with the task, according to the IDF, of carrying out ‘defensive missions and patrols’ to maintain security in the area. Reuters confirms that additional troops have been sent to Qusra.

The operation also directly affected the Palestinian population. According to Haaretz, around twenty families were initially evicted from their homes and temporarily taken in by other residents in the centre of Qusra. The families living in the houses directly under siege had been served with an eviction order, but some residents had refused to leave their homes. “I don’t want to leave because I’m afraid I won’t be able to return after the operation,” explained Qusai Abu Rida.

According to some Israeli activists present at the scene, the military reportedly explained that the evacuation of the Palestinians was necessary to prevent clashes with settlers. The IDF, however, stated that its forces had been deployed ‘to protect residents’. The Palestinians had been told that the operation could last for several days.

The Israeli public broadcaster Kan had initially reported that the army had ordered the occupants of the besieged houses and other residents to evacuate within an hour, ahead of an operation expected to last several days. The village mayor told Al Jazeera that the army had completely sealed off the area, imposed a curfew and deployed hundreds of soldiers to carry out the dismantling of the outpost.

Subsequently, the IDF backtracked on the evacuation of occupied homes. According to Kan, the commander of the Central Command, General Avi Bluth, ordered the military to enter only unoccupied homes. The decision came following criticism levelled at the Israeli authorities over their handling of the crisis.

The tension, however, is not confined to Qusra.In the early hours of Thursday, Israeli forces carried out raids in other towns in the Nablus governorate as well. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, military vehicles entered Burqa, north-west of Nablus, Qusra, to the south, and Salem, to the east. In Burqa, the military raided several homes and, according to Wafa, carried out numerous arrests. In Qusra, heavy military vehicles accompanied by an armoured bulldozer were deployed, whilst in Salem, patrols searched several neighbourhoods and the main streets. Wafa also reported the arrest of five Palestinians from the villages of Allar, Seida and Qaffin, north of Tulkarem.

The army, meanwhile, claims to have stepped up its operations against unauthorised settlements in recent months. Since the start of 2026, according to IDF figures cited by Israeli military radio, 151 illegal Israeli outposts in the West Bank have been dismantled. Some had already been demolished and subsequently rebuilt several times by settlers. The army and the military prosecutor’s office have also established a new protocol under which, in the event of civil appeals, the costs of dismantling operations may be charged to those who established the settlement rather than being borne by the state.

It is precisely the army’s ability to contain settler violence that is causing concern amongst some sections of the Israeli security apparatus. Senior officers are reported to have recently warned the political leadership that the army is approaching a point where it may no longer be able to protect all the settler outposts and, should the violence escalate into armed clashes, it might even struggle to mount an initial response.

Sources at the IDF Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the West Bank, described to Haaretz a command structure ‘paralysed’, from the head of Central Command, Avi Bluth, down to the division and brigade commanders deployed across the territory. According to these sources, some officers fear taking measures that might be perceived as politically biased, particularly with the Israeli elections just three months away and the possible appointment of a new Defence Minister on the horizon. Officers with their sights set on future promotions are therefore reportedly reluctant to take decisive action against Israeli right-wing extremists for fear of jeopardising their careers.

The European Union has also commented on the case. The European Commission’s spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Anitta Hipper, reiterated that “violence by settlers, intimidation and the destruction of weapons and property must cease” and called on Israel to take “concrete action” to prevent violence and bring those responsible to justice. “All efforts should be directed towards de-escalating all these tensions,” she added.

Whilst in Qusra the army is dismantling illegal outposts, further north, however, the the return of settlers to some of the settlements evacuated over twenty years ago. According to Ynet, Israeli families returned on Thursday to Ganim, in the north of the West Bank, bringing with them dozens of caravans.

Ganim is one of the four settlements in the northern West Bank that Israel evacuated in 2005, at the same time as its withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. In February 2023, the Knesset amended the 2005 Disengagement Law, removing the ban that had prevented Israelis from returning to the areas of the evacuated settlements.

The return was celebrated by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a leading figure in Israel’s far right. “Twenty-one years after the terrible sin of the withdrawal from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, we are finally erasing the shame of that withdrawal from northern Samaria,” he said.

Smotrich has announced that eleven new communities will be established over the summer. “There were four, and now there will be 18, 11 of which will be established immediately, including Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim. And there will be more in the future,” he said.

The minister then explained the political significance of the project: “Samaria is ours. It is an inseparable part of the Land of Israel and the State of Israel: the security belt of the State of Israel”. He added that the government is strengthening this presence by ‘killing off the idea of a Palestinian state’ and asserting that ‘the Land of Israel is ours forever’.