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Israeli families move into Aymik Dutan settlement in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers have begun moving into the Aymik Dutan settlement, built on land belonging to the town of Arraba, west of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank. The settlement is being considered as part of a plan to establish 19 new settlements in the northern West Bank.
Israeli settlers have begun moving into the Aymik Dutan settlement, built on land belonging to the town of Arraba, west of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.
The first families moved into structures at the settlement on Sunday morning, while trucks carrying their belongings also arrived in the area. The move took place ahead of the settlement’s official opening ceremony.
Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kish, Minister Zeev Elkin, who serves within the Finance Ministry, lawmakers Kati Shitrit, Boaz Bismuth and Nissim Vaturi, and Zeev Hever, secretary-general of the Amana settlement movement, are expected to attend the ceremony.
Rabbi Hayim Baruch, head of the Yeshivat Brorhin institutions in Lod and Tiberias, is also expected to attend. Some graduates of the religious school run by Baruch are among the first groups to move into the settlement.
Plan for 19 settlements in the northern West Bank
The establishment of Aymik Dutan followed a decision taken months ago by Israel’s Security Cabinet. The decision was made under the leadership of Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
The settlement is being considered as part of the work of the Samaria Regional Council, which is implementing an extensive connectivity plan in the northern West Bank. The plan calls for the establishment of 19 new settlements in the area.
Aymik Dutan is described as the fifth settlement established by the Samaria Regional Council in less than a year. Council Chairman Yossi Dagan also arrived in the area to welcome the first settler families.
Dagan said Aymik Dutan was not merely a new settlement, but represented the triumph of the Zionist spirit and the Jewish people’s connection to their land.
First new settlement since the 2005 “disengagement” plan
According to Israeli media reports, Aymik Dutan is the first new settlement established in the area since the 2005 “disengagement” plan. Israel recently reestablished the previously evacuated settlements of Ganim, Kadim, Homesh and Sanur in the northern West Bank.
A new step was taken in May 2024 concerning the four settlements dismantled in 2005, when Israel withdrew its army and settlers from the Gaza Strip. Israel repealed the implementation of the “disengagement” law, which provided for the evacuation of four settlements in the northern West Bank.
A report published on July 29 alleged that the Israeli army was seeking to seize land under the control of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank in order to connect two new settlements. The report alleged that Central Command chief Avi Blot had signed 15 expropriation orders concerning land in Area A to open a road between the Nua and Aymik Dutan settlements.
Nua and Aymik Dutan were included in a package covering 34 settlements in the West Bank that Israel’s Security Cabinet allegedly approved secretly in April 2026. Under the Oslo Accords, Area A is under the Palestinian Authority’s security and administrative control; Israeli law also prohibits its citizens from entering the area.
Scope of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem
Approximately 750,000 Israeli settlers are said to live in 156 settlements and 360 settlement outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The United Nations considers the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, occupied Palestinian territory and regards settlement activity as contrary to international law.
Actions linked to settlers and the Israeli army in the area include the demolition of homes and other structures, the burning of mosques and vehicles, the destruction of farmland, and preventing farmers from reaching their land.
Palestinians warn that these practices could pave the way for the annexation of the West Bank and weaken the possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state.
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