El Matan

El Matan (Hebrew: אל מתן‎, lit. Towards Matan or God's Gift) is an illegal Israeli outpost in the West Bank on the lands of Wad Qana,[1] located around a kilometer south of Ma'ale Shomron, under the jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. The outpost was established in 2000 on the Wadi Qana Nature reserve - one of the largest and most important such reserves in the West Bank-[2]by a group of religious youths from the nearby settlements of (Karnei Shomron and Ma'ale Shomron).[3] It is home to an estimated population of 48 (2008),[4] around 16 families and a small number of singles, both religious and non-religious Jews. El Matan is considered an unauthorized outpost by the Israeli government and is illegal under Israeli law.[5] The international community does not differentiate between Israeli outposts and Israeli settlements authorized by the Israeli government.[6] The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, though the Israeli government disputes this.[7][8]

El Matan
DistrictJudea and Samaria Area
CouncilShomron
RegionWest Bank
Founded2000
Founded byReligious youths

A synagogue erected on the site was closed down for lacking a building permit from the authorities in the Israeli Civil Administration.[9] On 2 October 2014, Haaretz carried notification of a master plan envisaging the confiscation from Wad Qana, an area farmed by Palestinians, of 100 dunams of land for the El Matan outpost.[1]

References
  1. 'The occupation puts hand on 100 dunums to expand the outpost of El Matan in Wad Qana ,' Archived 2014-12-26 at the Wayback Machine POICA 2 October 2010.
  2. Zafrir Rinat,'Outposts blossom in W. Bank nature reserves,' Haaretz 16 January 2004.
  3. "Elmatan". Peace Now. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  4. "Outposts list". Peace Now. Archived from the original on 2011-07-18. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  5. "Court freezes construction in West Bank outpost". Ynetnews. May 26, 2009. Retrieved 2011-03-29.
  6. Weiss, Mark. Israeli body to examine legalising outposts Irish Times. 12 October 2011
  7. The Geneva Convention BBC News. 10 December 2009
  8. Annan hopeful over Mid-East peace BBC News. 14 March 2005
  9. Aviad Glickman,'Agreement: Settlers to seal El Matan synagogue,' Ynet 4 November 2010.
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