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Karnei Shomron

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Karnei Shomron
  • קַרְנֵי שׁוֹמְרוֹן
  • كرني شمرون
Local council
Hebrew transcription(s)
 • ISO 259Qarnei Šomron
 • Also spelledQarne Shomron (official)
Central Synagogue
Central Synagogue
Karnei Shomron is located in the Northern West Bank
Karnei Shomron
Karnei Shomron
Location within the Northern West Bank
Coordinates: 32°10′18″N 35°5′52″E / 32.17167°N 35.09778°E / 32.17167; 35.09778
RegionWest Bank
DistrictJudea and Samaria Area
Founded1977
Government
 • Head of MunicipalityYehonatan Kuznitz
Area
 • Total
7,179 dunams (7.179 km2; 2.772 sq mi)
Population
 (2024)[1]
 • Total
10,541
 • Density1,468/km2 (3,803/sq mi)
Websitewww.karneishomron.co.il
View of Nahal Kana

Karnei Shomron (Hebrew: קַרְנֵי שׁוֹמְרוֹן, lit. "Rays (of light) of Samaria") is an Israeli settlement organized as a local council established in 1977 in the West Bank, east of Kfar Saba. Karnei Shomron is located 48 kilometres (30 mi) northeast of Tel Aviv and 85 kilometres (53 mi) north of Jerusalem. In 2024 it had a population of 10,541.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.[2]

History and archaeology

Confiscation of Palestinian land

According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from four nearby Palestinian villages of in order to construct Karnei Shomron:

Local Council neighborhoods

In 1991, several Israeli settlements were merged to become a single municipality called Karnei Shomron Local Council:

  • Karnei Shomron – established in 1977, 450 families
  • Ginot Shomron – established in 1984, 850 families
  • Neve Menachem/Neve Oramin – established in 1991, 220 families
  • Alonei Shilo – established in 1999, 25 families

Also part of Karnei Shomron are:

Nature

The town borders Wadi Qana, a wadi marking the border between lands that are believed to have been the territory of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Menashe) in biblical times.[7] Wadi Qana (Hebrew name: Nahal Kana), is administered by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and is defined as a nature reserve.[8]

Leadership

The chief rabbi of Karnei Shomron is Yitzhak HaLevy.[citation needed]

Igal Lahav is the head of the Karnei Shomron Local Council.[9]

2002 mall attack

During the Second Intifada, on 16 February 2002, two people were killed and 30 people were wounded, six seriously, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a pizzeria in Ginot Shomron shopping mall in Karnei Shomron. Rachel Thaler, aged 16, died of her wounds on 27 February. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) claimed responsibility for the attack.[citation needed]

Voting Patterns

In the 2022 election, 85 percent of voters in Karnei Shomron voted for the parties of the right-wing coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu, while 10 percent voted for the parties of the center-left coalition led by Yair Lapid and 0.02 percent voted for the Arab parties.[10]

Settlement Expansion at the Expense of Expelled Palestinian communities

The expansion of Karnei Shomron 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 Ma'ale Shomron 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.[11][12] 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.[12] On 9 May 2026, settlers returned with heavy machinery and demolished approximately fifty remaining residential and agricultural structures.[13] Later that month, the Dorot area was formally incorporated into the jurisdiction of Karnei Shomron.[14] 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",[15] 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.[16]


Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2026.
  2. ↑ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  3. ↑ Jinsafut Village Profile (including Al Funduq Locality), ARIJ, p. 17
  4. ↑ Deir Istiya Town Profile, ARIJ, p. 17
  5. ↑ Kafr Laqif Village Profile, 2013, ARIJ, pp. 17-18
  6. ↑ Hajja village profile, ARIJ, p. 17
  7. ↑ Green and pleasant land?, 2006
  8. ↑ "Israel Nature and Parks Authority: Nahal Kana". Israel Nature and Parks Authority.[permanent dead link]
  9. ↑ jinn@orijinn.net, Jinn. "קרני שומרון" (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2019-07-01.
  10. ↑ "The true results of the elections for the 25th Knesset". Israel: Central Elections Committee. November 1, 2022. Retrieved July 7, 2026.
  11. ↑ Cite error: The named reference OCHA2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. 1 2 "Arab al-Khuli / 'Uyun Kafur Qara (Wadi Qana), Qalqiliya District: Israel expelled a decades-old community from its home". B'Tselem. 28 March 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  13. ↑ "Losses estimated at millions of shekels: settlers demolish 50 agricultural rooms south of Qalqilya". Wafa. 10 May 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "שיא ביו"ש: אלוף פיקוד המרכז חתם על 30 תחומי שיפוט חדשים" [Record in Judea and Samaria: Central Command chief signs 30 new jurisdictional areas]. Arutz Sheva (in Hebrew). 31 May 2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  15. ↑ "Settler Violence = State Violence". B'Tselem. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Amnesty International (10 June 2026). Erasing Anything Palestinian: Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and Herding Communities (Report). MDE 15/1103/2026. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
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