Samaria Council Releases Chilling Footage of 2005 Evacuation, Vows Return

Twenty-one years after the destruction of the northern Samaria settlements, and following the "historic return" to Homesh this year, the Samaria Regional Council has released a moving video documenting the return to northern Samaria as part of the "Connection Plan" to establish 19 settlements and one million residents in the region. The video includes rare footage from photographer Gabi Newman, who was on the roof of the fortress in Sanur on the day of the evacuation. It shows the final moments as evacuation forces breached the compound after hours of struggle on the fortress roof.

The footage depicts Rabbi Dov Lior tearing the shirt of Yossi Dagan, then head of the families in the community and a leading activist against the expulsion, who was holding a Torah scroll. Rabbi Lior instructed Dagan to recite the blessing "Baruch Dayan Ha'emet" (Blessed is the True Judge), stating, "This is like the destruction of the Temple." Dagan is seen reciting the blessing, with others responding "Amen," and vowing, "We pledge here, before us, before the Torah, and before the world, that we and the people of Israel will return to Sanur!"

The video also shows moments of return and re-establishment: 21 years after the expulsion, a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Sanur, where Dagan declared, "We have returned home. Our beloved Sanur, we have returned to you again, and this time forever!" He is also seen blessing "Mitziv Gvul Almona" (establishing a widow's boundary) in the settlements. This initiative is part of the "Connection Plan" led by the Samaria Regional Council, Amona, and government ministries, aiming to re-establish settlement in northern Samaria. Instead of the four evacuated settlements, 19 new ones are being established, reviving the settlement chain from Homesh, Ganim, Kadim, and Sanur, through Eival, Rechavam, and Emek Dotan, to Noa and other planned settlements.

The film features families sharing their decisions to move to Kadim, Ganim, Sanur, Homesh, Eival, and Emek Dotan, their ascent to the new settlement of Noa, and the "Alonim Shomron" nucleus touring the area before settling. The families express feeling part of a significant historical process. The Atias family from Kadim speaks of finding meaning and purpose through building something new. The Nasimi family, moving to Noa, feels called to the mission. The Okon family from Ganim connects the return to northern Samaria with the dream of returning to Gush Katif. Naomi Afan and the Dvir family from Eival discuss the difficulty of leaving a beloved community and the inability to stand by idly during such a significant movement. Emek Dotan is also highlighted, with families drawn to the area by the renewed settlement momentum in Samaria and the vast, unpopulated expanses of Israel.

Yossi Dagan stated that this is more than just a return to four settlements; the entire northern Samaria is reawakening. He contrasted the 2005 expulsion with the current large-scale return, presenting the "Connection Plan" as a counterpoint to the "Disengagement Plan," aiming for nineteen settlements instead of four, and making northern Samaria a central, thriving part of Israel.