Gallant: Israelis can enter north West Bank areas that had been off-limits since 2005 disengagement

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant gives instructions to allow Israelis to enter an area of the northern West Bank where they had been forbidden to enter since the 2005 disengagement, and says the step will lead to “the development of settlement and provide security to the residents of the region.”

Still, any lawful settlement activity would have to be authorized by the government in processes that typically take years. However, the removal of the entry ban could make it easier to establish illegal outposts.

Four settlements in the region were evacuated and partially demolished 19 years ago at the same time that all the Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip were evacuated, and a law was passed banning Israeli citizens from being present in those regions.

That law was repealed by the Knesset last year, but military orders barring Israelis from entering remained in place.

Gallant has now instructed the IDF to rescind the order declaring the area of three of the four settlements to be a closed military zone. A similar order was issued in May 2023 removing the closed military zone at the illegal outpost of Homesh, which was also evacuated and demolished in 2005.

“The Jewish hold on Judea and Samaria guarantees security, [and] the application of the law to repeal the Disengagement Law will lead to the development of settlement and provide security to the residents of the region,” says Gallant in announcing his decision, using the Biblical term for the West Bank.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan describes the measure as “historic,” saying Israel was “officially and formally amending the unjust folly” of evacuating settlements from the region.

“The full cancellation of the Disengagement Law is the first step to full redress,” he adds, in a likely allusion to future settlement activity in the area.

The Peace Now organization which campaigns against settlements condemns the step, saying “the last thing Israel needs is more isolated and unnecessary settlements which will be a security burden and distance us from a required diplomatic process.”