Israeli 'Hilltop Girls' Use Soft Settlement Tactics to Expand West Bank Outposts

The “Hilltop Girls,” a female branch of the long-standing Hilltop Youth, have abandoned civilian routines to live in makeshift tents on West Bank hilltops, branding their presence as a peaceful, family-oriented project. By emphasizing mundane activities like cooking and laundry, they seek to mask the illegal expansion of Israeli settlements onto private Palestinian land. Notable sites such as the Maoz Esther outpost, now dubbed “Girls’ Hill,” host 17 families and over 50 children, while the newer Or Ahuvia outpost is part of a plan to link more than 20 settlements into a large bloc.

Although Israeli police sometimes remove structures, the settlements are promptly reconstructed with water, electricity, road access and military protection supplied by the Israeli Civil Administration, and the government provides substantial food and clothing subsidies. The movement enjoys strong political backing, with far-right ministers and the defence minister claiming to have halted administrative orders against settlers.

A Knesset-advanced bill would allow Jews to purchase West Bank land without restriction, further cementing the expansion. Between January 2025 and May 2026, the United Nations recorded 2,806 settler attacks, and systematic settler violence displaced nearly 2,000 Palestinians in 2026.