Israel has reopened the settlement of Kadim in the occupied northern West Bank (a region Palestinians call the Jenin area), with thirty pioneer families arriving under military escort two decades after the Israeli government evacuated it. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich marked the occasion with a ceremony celebrating the reversal of a 20-year ban on Jewish settlement in the area, and three other nearby settlements — Ganim, Sanur, and Homesh — have already been reopened under the current government. The move, part of a broader push that has seen more than 100 new settlements approved across the West Bank since late 2022, has drawn widespread international condemnation, with Palestinian residents and local officials warning of deepening fear, restricted movement, and accelerating displacement ahead of Israeli elections scheduled for October.