A new Israeli settlement near the village of Qabalan, near Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on June 27, 2026. (Credit: Mohammed Torokman/Reuters)
Israeli families moved into a new settlement on a mountain overlooking Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the area's settler regional council said.
"This morning, families from the Ebal founding group are transferring their equipment and moving into caravans in the new Ebal settlement, established in Samaria," the Samaria Regional Council said, using the biblical name for the northern West Bank.
Excluding East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, among roughly 3 million Palestinians.
All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.
In a video shared by the council, about a dozen Israeli settlers carried moving boxes and furniture into mobile homes typical of new settlements.
A newly paved road lined with Israeli flags led to about 10 mobile homes on the mountain.
Mount Ebal is one of the highest peaks in the West Bank. Residents of Nablus' Old City told AFP they could see the settlement's homes in the valley below.
"Palestinian citizens used to go to Mount Ebal to stroll and breathe fresh air, but today they have cut off our air by encircling Nablus from all sides with settlements and attacks," said Ghassan Daghlas, governor of the Nablus region.
He said a military camp and parts of a settlement on Mount Gerizim, another mountain near Nablus, had already left Palestinian residents feeling encircled.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said 600 families were expected to live in the Ebal settlement in the future.
"We are establishing here a thriving settlement that will illuminate the entire region, and this is a huge step on the way toward expanding our presence throughout the northern Samaria area," Dagan said at the site.
Since taking office, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, one of the most right-wing in the country's history, has approved the establishment of 102 settlements in the West Bank, according to the Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now.
