New Israeli Settlement 'Noa' Established in Samaria, Eighth in Under a Year

The new Israeli settlement of Noa was established on Tuesday in the northern Samaria region, south of the existing settlements of Ganim and Kadim. This marks the eighth new settlement founded by the Samaria Regional Council in less than a year. The first families have moved in and begun building a new community.

The establishment ceremony was attended by Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar, Settlement and National Missions Minister Orit Strock, Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli, MK Boaz Bismuth, and Ze'ev Hever Zambish. Dagan recited the traditional blessing for establishing a new Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel. Participants affixed a mezuzah and inaugurated the first residential structures.

Noa is situated south of Ganim and Kadim, settlements that were evacuated during the 2005 disengagement and recently re-established. Its creation aims to strengthen settlement in northern Samaria and foster a significant contiguous settlement bloc in the area. The settlement's establishment follows a cabinet decision from approximately a year ago, led by Ministers Israel Katz and Bezalel Smotrich, and is part of the Samaria Regional Council's "Connection Plan" to establish 19 new settlements in northern Samaria and its "Million in Samaria" initiative to bring one million residents to the region.

"Where they sought to uproot and expel, we are privileged today to build a new settlement and bring pioneering families to the land," said Yossi Dagan. "After years of persistent struggle, northern Samaria is rising again. The establishment of Noa is a triumphant Zionist response to all who thought settlement would stop. From the four evacuated settlements, we will grow to many settlements, flourishing communities, and thousands of families."

Shira Bar-Gad, a mother of two who moved to Noa from Jerusalem, expressed her excitement: "We waited a long time for this. It's moving that it's finally happening, that this hill with nothing on it has become a settlement. Now we see the road being paved and the caravans arriving, it's truly moving. My older son, Yehuda, is also excited and talking about it. When we visited my sister in her settlement, he asked, 'Wasn't there nothing here once either?'"