Israelis march between once-closed West Bank settlements

Hundreds of Israelis paraded between recently reconstructed settlements in the northern West Bank on Wednesday to commemorate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, marking a symbolic return to an area that was predominantly Palestinian. Dressed in traditional garb, settlers of all ages carried bundles of fruit and branches, accompanied by inflatable castles and clowns to create a festive atmosphere atop Palestinian territories.

The settlements of Ganim and Kadim, now rebuilt under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pro-settlement government, were once dismantled in 2005 as part of a disengagement policy from Palestinian population centers.

Along the dirt road connecting the two settlements, uprooted olive trees served as a poignant reminder of the Palestinian presence that was displaced to make way for the settlements. Senior settler leader Yossi Dagan addressed the gathering, stating that the dismantlement represented an attempt to disengage from the idea of Zionism. He expressed his hope for a future with hundreds of thousands of Jews settling in Northern Samaria, the biblical name for the region.

The event was characterized by a strong display of Israeli flags, and the Israeli army was present to protect the settlers, in stark contrast to the situation in the Palestinian city of Jenin, where Israeli forces recently killed a number of Palestinians. As they traveled towards Israel, dozens of prefabricated homes were waiting to be installed, further expanding the settlements and reinforcing Israel's presence in the region.

Yishai Gerstle, a 35-year-old father of three who had previously protested the closure of Ganim as a teenager, expressed his joy at returning to the settlement with his family. "It's amazing to come back with my kids and show them what we left and where we're going back," he said. Since Netanyahu's return to power in 2023, leading one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history, 104 new settlements have been approved in the West Bank, where over 500,000 settlers now reside among a population of three million Palestinians.

These approvals have intensified ahead of the upcoming October 27 elections, in which Netanyahu hopes to strengthen his base. In recent months, the West Bank has seen a surge in violence, with settlers attacking Palestinians or their property nearly daily, alongside a recent incident where a Palestinian settler was shot and killed.