Settlers parade through rebuilt West Bank outposts during Sukkot celebrations
Hundreds of Israelis marched between the newly re-established settlements of Ganim and Kadim in the northern West Bank, marking the Sukkot holiday and signalling a renewed Israeli presence.
During the week-long Sukkot festival, hundreds of Israelis walked between the revived settlements of Ganim and Kadim in northern Samaria, a region once almost entirely Palestinian. The crowd, accompanied by fruit bundles, holiday banners and inflatable castles, followed a road lined with uprooted olive trees that once marked Palestinian land. Senior settler leader Yossi Dagan declared the march a triumph over the Oslo peace process and pledged to bring more Jews to the area, now referred to by its biblical name.
Israeli soldiers were deployed to protect the participants, contrasting with nearby Jenin where Israeli forces had killed Palestinians in a prior operation. Prefabricated homes await installation to further expand the settlements, part of a broader push that has seen 104 new outposts approved since Netanyahu’s 2023 return, bringing the settler population to over 500,000 amid rising violence.
Why it matters
The march highlights Israel's accelerating settlement expansion, a contentious issue affecting peace prospects and regional stability.
How this story developed
- Sep 1 EU debates ban on settlement products as Israeli forces raze West Bank homes
- Sep 9 UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese called the UK settlement trade ban a tentative step and urged broader sanctions.
- Sep 9 UK joined eleven other countries in imposing a ban on West Bank settlement products.
- Sep 9 The sanctions were announced immediately before the start of Rosh Hashanah.
- Sep 9 Eight Arab and Muslim states publicly praised the United Kingdom’s ban on settlement products.
- Sep 10 Israeli opposition parties offered no substantive response to the UK sanctions.
- Sep 13 US activists created a whistle‑blower hotline and warned firms could be targeted under anti‑BDS laws.
- Sep 14 British foreign secretary expected to announce a trade ban on settlement‑linked goods.
- Sep 17 A year after the October ceasefire, Israeli evacuation orders and ongoing attacks have kept Palestinians in Gaza displaced, with thousands killed, wounded and facing severe food insecurity.
- Sep 18 The UN rights office issued a warning that the displacement of over 33,000 refugees from West Bank camps may amount to crimes against humanity.
- Sep 23 A man in his forties was seriously wounded when a vehicle rammed a police car at a checkpoint near Modi'in on the road to the West Bank.
- Sep 23 The checkpoint’s security personnel have been reinforced and an investigation launched.
- Sep 28 A six‑storey apartment block collapsed, killing 21 people and prompting a lengthy rescue effort.
- Sep 29 Three teenagers were arrested in connection with the raid.
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