A view of Efrat’s Dagan (foreground) and Tamar (background) neighborhoods, near Bethlehem in Judea and Samaria, Nov. 10, 2020. Credit: Gershon Elinson/Flash90.
(Nov. 9, 2024 / JNS) Leaders and activists across the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria were nearly unanimous in their response to the outcome of the U.S. presidential election: the defeat of Democratic candidate Kamala Harris by Republican contender Donald Trump.
Israeli troops during counterterror activities in the Jenin and Tulkarem areas in northern Samaria, August 2024. Credit: IDF
(September 6, 2024 / JNS) “The army is now seriously turning its attention to Judea and Samaria. The terrorists have raised their heads,” a regional Judea and Samaria security chief, who simultaneously is serving in the IDF reserves as part of the “Operation Summer Camp” anti-terror campaign in the territories that began on Aug. 28, told JNS on Wednesday.
A view from the Jewish community of Neve Daniel in the Gush Etzion region of Judea, Oct. 11, 2022. Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90.
(September 4, 2024 / JNS) Last month, the Israeli Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration set borders known as “blue lines” for a new 150-acre Gush Etzion town called Nahal Heletz, located in the Judean hills just outside of Jerusalem, in an area with a Jewish presence dating back thousands of years.
Holiday resort guest houses under construction in a Judean Desert nature reserve under Palestinian Authority control, Aug. 21, 2024. Photo: Josh Hasten.
Israeli government officials, local municipalities and NGOs are waiting to see whether Israel’s Civil Administration will implement a recent cabinet decision calling for Israel to reclaim responsibility from the Palestinian Authority for a nature reserve just east of Gush Etzion in the Judean Desert.
On today’s Israel Uncensored, Josh Hasten discusses how Israel’s cabinet this week granted full legalization to five communities in Judea and Samaria. While he applauded the decision, Hasten says that Israel should stress that the communities gained full recognition – not as a response to terrorist attacks or as a punishment. Rather, Judea and Samaria are the heartland of the State of Israel and the Jewish People and it’s our right to live and build in these areas.
Finance Minister and Religious Zionism Party head Bezalel Smotrich holds a faction meeting in northern Israel, May 19, 2024. Photo by Ayal Margolin/Flash90.
Judea and Samaria leaders on Tuesday applauded Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s announcement earlier this week that major steps had been taken to transfer administrative authority in the area from military to civilian hands.
A protest organized by B’yadaim Shelanu to prevent the entry of P.A. workers to Efrat in Gush Etzion, June 23, 2024. Credit: B’yadaim Shelanu.
Some 120 protesters gathered in the Gush Etzion town of Efrat on Sunday morning to prevent local building contractors from bringing Palestinian laborers into the community.
Binyamin Regional Council head Israel Ganz (in black T-shirt) and IDF Central Command Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox (on Ganz’s left) during the search for 14-year-old shepherd Binyamin Achimeir. Credit: Binyamin Regional Council Spokesperson.
The more than half a million Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria are no strangers to terrorism. In 2023, the region saw a 350% increase in terrorist attacks compared to the previous year. There were 300 shooting attacks last year, the most since the second intifada in the early 2000s.