Sa-Nur () was an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...

in the northern

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, just north of the Palestinian towns of Silat ad-Dhahr and Fandaqumiya, under the administrative jurisdiction of

Shomron Regional Council The Shomron Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shomron'', English ''Samaria Regional Council'') is an Israeli regional council in the northern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thirty-five Israeli settlements fall under its jurisdict ...

until 2005. Prior to its demolition, Sa-Nur was home to 43 families.Thousands at Homesh; Dozens Attempt to Rebuild Sa-Nur
Israel National News May 9, 2008

Unilateral disengagement

Homesh and Sa Nur on the 2018 OCHA OpT map of Jenin

In September 2005 its 105 residents were evicted and

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

soldiers began dismantling Sanur as part of

Israeli disengagement from Gaza In 2005, Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip by dismantling all 21 Israeli settlements there. As part of this process, four Israeli settlements in the West Bank were dismantled as well. The disengagement was executed unilaterally: Israeli a ...

. The demolition of Sa-Nur and Homesh marked the end of the central part of the disengagement plan. The only remaining structure, a synagogue, was buried.

Attempts to rebuild

Since the demolition,

religious Zionist Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...

groups have attempted to return to Sa-Nur, in order to rebuild the community. On 8 May 2008, following a permitted Independence Day rally in Homesh, a group of 150 set off at night for Sa-Nur, including many former residents. On 30 July 2015, marking the 10 year anniversary after the evacuation, 250 people, made up of 20 former families, attempted to resettle in Sa-Nur, before being forcibly evicted by the

. In late July 2018, 200 Jewish settlers, supported by

Bayit Yehudi The Jewish Home () was an Orthodox Jewish, religious Zionist and far-right political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Moledet and Tkuma in November 2008. However, Moledet broke away from t ...

MKs Shuli Mualem and

Bezalel Smotrich Bezalel Yoel Smotrich (; born 27 February 1980) is an Israeli far-right politician and lawyer who has served as the Minister of Finance since 2022. The leader of the National Religious Party–Religious Zionism, he previously served as a Kn ...

, revisited the area as part of a plan to challenge the Disengagement Plan which led to the settlement's dismantlement. In May 2025, the government's Security Cabinet approved the building of 22 Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including the dismantled communities of Homesh and Sa-Nur.

References

External links

Disengagement Plan of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - Revised
{{Coord, 32, 20, 14, N, 35, 12, 7, E, type:city, display=title Villages depopulated during the Arab–Israeli conflict Former Israeli settlements in the West Bank Shomron Regional Council Israeli disengagement from Gaza

Unilateral disengagement

Attempts to rebuild

See also

References

External links