Palestinian citizens of Israel mobilise against settler outpost in Galilee

Submitted by Lubna Masarwa on Tue, 09/15/2026 - 11:35 Residents of Majd al-Krum launch daily protests after settlers from the occupied West Bank establish an encampment in their town

Israeli settlers set up an encampment in Majd al-Krum, a Palestinian-majority town in northern Israel (Arab48) Off

Palestinian citizens of Israel have begun daily protests against an outpost established by settlers from the occupied West Bank in the heart of a Palestinian-majority town in the Galilee.

A group of Israelis reportedly from the Tekoa settlement near Bethlehem set up tents on state land in Majd al-Krum, in northern Israel, on Friday.

The town is home mostly to Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The outpost was established after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced an election campaign plan to “Judaise” the Negev and Galilee by bringing one million additional Jewish residents to the areas.

Smotrich said he wanted to extend the settlement “revolution” from the occupied West Bank to areas inside Israel, where most Palestinian citizens of Israel live.

Majd al-Krum’s local council said the outpost had emerged within “a dangerous political context” and warned that it was intended to create a new reality on the ground.

Izz al-Din Badran, an activist with Majd al-Krum’s popular committee, said residents discovered the outpost on Friday.

The committee subsequently called on residents to maintain an ongoing mobilisation to push the settlers out.

"عاشت عاشت فلسطين"؛ جانب من هتافات الأهالي خلال احتجاجهم ضدّ البؤرة الاستيطانية التي أقامها مستوطنون على أراضي بلدتهم مجد الكروم. https://t.co/Thj4Pq2ErQ
— موقع عرب 48 (@arab48website) September 14, 2026

“There are landowners from Majd al-Krum in this area, and we want to preserve our lands,” Badran told Middle East Eye.

The settlers’ encampment has been built on state land leased by the Jewish National Fund solely for livestock herding.

But the site has been occupied by young settlers who pitched tents and brought in furniture.

'There are hundreds of residents of Majd al-Krum here, and the mobilisation will continue until they leave'

- Izz al-Din Badran, activist

Palestinian residents fear the outpost could eventually expand onto privately owned Palestinian land or prevent them from accessing it.

“We are talking about the hilltop youth, who are committing violence against our Palestinian people in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” Badran said.

“They are the same people who are here, and they will not be allowed to take over land.”

The local council and popular committee have announced daily demonstrations from 5pm until nightfall until the outpost is removed.

“There are hundreds of residents of Majd al-Krum here, and the mobilisation will continue until they leave,” Badran added.

Smotrich plan

Sami Abu Shehada, leader of the Balad party and a candidate in the upcoming Israeli elections, said settler herding had become a tactic for taking over Palestinian land.

He said this had been used extensively in Area C of the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settler shepherds graze their animals in small areas before gradually expanding into Palestinian land and seizing it.

He warned that the tactic had now spread beyond Area C.

“That’s essentially what’s happening in Majd al-Krum,” Abu Shehada told MEE.

The ultimate goal, he argued, was to erase the Green Line, the 1949 Armistice border that has served as the de facto boundary between Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

“The aim is to erase the Green Line so that there’s no longer Palestinian land, or such a thing as the Oslo Accords,” he said.

“All of historic Palestine belongs to Jews only, and there is no difference between the territories occupied in 1967 and the State of Israel.”

Smotrich announces plan to judaise Negev and Galilee Read More »

Abu Shehada said the development could be traced to Smotrich’s ��Decisive Plan”, drawn up in 2017 and aimed at eradicating Palestinian national aspirations.

The premise of the blueprint is that the entire territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea belongs exclusively to the Jewish people.

The plan offers Palestinians an ultimatum framed around three choices: forgo national aspirations and accept inferior status under Jewish supremacy; leave their homeland; or face violent repression if they resist.

Abu Shehada said Palestinians had made the mistake of not taking Smotrich’s plan seriously, but should be more alert now.

“The plan says clearly that the Palestinian has no right to any part of the land of historic Palestine.

“And that the Palestinian must accept the Israeli occupation willingly and happily,” he said.

“Smotrich does not represent only himself; he is a minister in the government of the State of Israel.”

Abu Shehada also warned that the settlers were not simply a group of isolated extremists.

Instead, he said, they were part of a wider, government-backed network operating with police protection and influence at the highest levels of government.

“The danger comes from the fact that this is a state project, and a large part of the institutions of this state have adopted it and supported it.”

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