Settlers establish illegal outpost southeast of Bethlehem overnight

By Charlie Summers

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20 November 2025, 8:01 pm

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Shdema, a West Bank outpost erected at the site of a former IDF base with the backing of the Gush Etzion Regional Council, is pictured on the backdrop of Beit Sahour, a neighboring Palestinian town, the morning after the outpost's establishment on November 20, 2025. (Courtesy Gush Etzion Regional Council)

Israeli settlers founded a new illegal West Bank outpost southeast of Bethlehem last night, with the backing of settlement authorities in the region.

The outpost, called Shdema, is in its “initial stages” and currently consists of three families, says a spokesman for the Gush Etzion Regional Council.

Council chairman Yaron Rosental says the new settlement is “an important strategic point” that will ensure Jewish continuity between the Gush Etzion settlement bloc and Jerusalem, as construction booms in the area.

The site, which sits atop a hill, used to house an IDF base that was abandoned two decades ago. Since then, many settlement activists have vied to establish a Jewish presence there, despite opposition from Palestinians in the neighboring village of Beit Sahour.

Anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now condemns the establishment of Shdema, claiming it was undertaken without government authorization. The group has filed a police complaint demanding that authorities probe the regional council’s involvement in illegal settlement construction.

The area was designated around 15 years ago for the construction of a US-funded children’s hospital to serve nearby Palestinian locales; however, settlers were able to thwart the plan, according to the organization. The group says Shdema intends to “choke the Palestinian town of Beit Sahour and prevent its development, as part of an effort to deny Israel the chance for a future of peace and two states.”

It further alleges that the speedy construction was approved to shield the settlement council from criticism, after it backed the demolition of several illegal settlement structures.

Shdema was erected just days after the IDF evacuated several makeshift structures built by settlers in the illegal Tzur Misgavi outpost, at the regional council’s behest due to “anarchy” in the area. The demolitions led to fierce clashes between security forces and settlers, which saw six activists arrested and several officers wounded.