Israel has approved the construction of 126 more illegal settlement units in Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, local media reported.
“Twenty years after its evacuation, a plan has been approved to build 126 permanent homes in the Sanur settlement,” Channel 12 said on Wednesday.
The move marks a renewed push to expand illegal settlement activity in the area, which had previously been evacuated as part of Israel’s 2005 disengagement plan.
Yossi Dagan, head of the regional council representing settlements in the northern West Bank, said Sanur “will be rebuilt".
“It will include 126 permanent homes, and in the future it will become a city in Israel,” he added.
The renewed push follows a public ceremony held on Sunday in which Israeli officials declared the “revival” of Sanur.
The event was attended by senior members of the Israeli government, including Defence Minister Israel Katz, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, and Yossi Dagan, head of the Settlements Council in the northern West Bank.
Sanur was one of four northern occupied West Bank colonies, along with Homesh, Ganim, and Kadim, evacuated in 2005 when Israel removed its settlements and military installations from Gaza and parts of the occupied West Bank.
In March 2024, the Israeli parliament voted to repeal the disengagement law by passing legislation known as the "Cancellation of the Disengagement Law", reopening the door for illegal settlers to return to the evacuated areas.
Palestinian authorities have repeatedly called on the international community to pressure Israel to halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, which the United Nations considers illegal under international law.
Since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, Palestinian officials say Israeli measures aimed at annexing the occupied West Bank have intensified, including home demolitions, forced displacement and settlement expansion.
