El Matan
Israeli outpost in the West Bank
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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 the Palestinian village of Uyun Kafr Qari' in 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)[needs update],[4] around 16 families and a small number of singles, both religious and non-religious Jews.
El Matan | |
|---|---|
  El Matan Location within the Northern West Bank | |
| Coordinates: 32°09′04″N 35°04′31″E | |
| District | Judea and Samaria Area |
| Council | Shomron |
| Region | West Bank |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Founded by | Religious youths |
El Matan is considered an unauthorized outpost by the Israeli government and is illegal under Israeli and international 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]
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]
Settlement Expansion at the Expense of Expelled Palestinian communities
The expansion of El Matan directly drove the erasure of traditional Palestinian pastoral life in the valley below. The progressive cleansing of the herding community of Uyun Kafr Qari' (also known as 'Arab al-Khuli), situated immediately beneath the cliffs of El Matan within the Wadi Qana basin, was the culmination of a years-long campaign of physical assaults, blocked access to grazing lands and water sources, plundered livestock, and destroyed agricultural property.[10][11] The final blow fell on 27 February 2026, after settlers from the nearby Dorot outpost threatened the remaining residents and their livestock with violence; fearing for their lives, all remaining families left, completely depopulating the community.[11] On 9 May 2026, settlers returned with heavy machinery and demolished approximately fifty remaining residential and agricultural structures.[12] Later that month, the Dorot area was formally incorporated into the jurisdiction of Karnei Shomron.[13] B'Tselem included the depopulation of Uyun Kafr Qari' in what it described as the "ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities and lone families in the West Bank",[14] while Amnesty International has characterized the wider forcible displacement of Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank as an Israeli "ethnic cleansing campaign" linked to settlement expansion and annexation.[15]