West Bank Kadim sees Israeli return, council says

The Samaria regional council said Israelis began moving into the occupied West Bank settlement of Kadim on Thursday, making it the last of four settlements evacuated more than two decades ago to be repopulated.

The council, which administers Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, said 30 families were moving to live permanently in Kadim. It said far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and council head Yossi Dagan accompanied them.

Kadim was one of four Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank evacuated under former prime minister Ariel Sharon's 2005 disengagement plan, which also included the removal of all Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip. Israel officially reopened neighbouring Ganim a week earlier.

Smotrich was quoted in the council statement as saying the return completed what he called a “rectification” and that the communities formed a security buffer for Israel. He also vowed to establish 19 settlements in the northernmost part of the West Bank.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements there among about three million Palestinians. The settlements are illegal under international law.