Ahiya
Israeli settlement in the West Bank
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
32°3′42″N 35°19′37″E Ahiya (Hebrew: אחיה; also transliterated as Achiya or Achia) is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, about 1.5 km southeast of the Palestinian village of Jalud. It falls under the purview of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[1]
.png)
Ahiya | |
|---|---|
Israeli settlers in Ahiya | |
 Interactive map of Ahiya | |
| Country | Palestine |
| Council | Mateh Binyamin |
| Region | West Bank |
It is named after the Biblical prophet Ahijah the Shilonite who lived in Shiloh, which is about 3 km to its west.
Demographics
Geography
Ahiya is near the Israeli outpost of Shvut Rachel[4] as well as Jalud.
According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from the Palestinian villages of Jalud and Qusra in order to construct the Israeli outposts of Ahiya and Esh Kodesh.[5]
Economy
Ahiya has the only Israeli owned oil press in the region. Settlers from the region bring their olives to Ahiya to be pressed.[4]
Attacks against Palestinians
Palestinian farmers from nearby Jalud have accused settlers from Ahiya of taking harvested olives from them by force.[4]
- On 9 February 2011, Israeli settlers from Ahiya attacked Jalud, demanding residents evacuate their houses and physically attacking local residents.
- On 9 October 2013, Israeli arsonists, apparently from the nearby outposts, intruded into the Jalud elementary school, hurled rocks and damaged 5 cars belonging to the teaching body. They then set fire to the village's olive groves, damaging some 400 trees. A settler website vindicated the attack as a reprisal for the dismantlement of another illegal outpost, Givat Geulat Zion, carried out by the IDF that morning. Three youths from Adi Ad were subsequently arrested on suspicion of involvement, but local Palestinian eyewitnesses have stated that the assailants, some 20, did not appear to be minors.[6]
- On 9 January 2026, Israeli settlers from the Ahiya and Esh Kodesh outposts cut through the fence and entered Jalud’s secondary mixed school, which serves about 210 students. During the incident, settlers threw flammable materials into a classroom and spray-painted slogans on the walls.
In 2022, Haaretz reported that residents of Ahiya attacked Jalud with firebombs, torching cars and house yards, in what the Israeli newspaper called a "pogrom", "flaunt evil" and "settler terror".[7]