First housing framework in the West Bank to add thousands of homes in Karnei Shomron

A historic first housing framework for Judea and Samaria was signed Sunday in Karnei Shomron, with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Construction and Housing Minister Chaim Katz, Karnei Shomron council head Yehonatan Kutznitz, and Israel Land Authority chief Yehuda Eliyahu in attendance. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not attend and sent a prerecorded greeting. The local council said the deal is worth about NIS 2 billion.

According to the council, the agreement, worked out with the Israeli government, the Israel Land Authority, and the local authority, will add about 6,000 new housing units. It also includes major investment in infrastructure, public institutions, education, culture, transportation, commercial and employment areas, and public spaces.

The plan calls for new neighborhoods, an education campus, a cultural hall, a country club, a regional shopping center, parks, and promenades. Katz said it was a “historic agreement” reflecting a clear policy of settlement and building the land of the ancestors, and said the investment would allow Karnei Shomron’s population to triple. Eliyahu called it a broad strategic move that strengthens the town as a central anchor in the area.

Smotrich linked the agreement to international criticism and sanctions, saying, “There are those trying to dictate our future from rooms of discussion overseas. We shape our future here, on the land of our homeland.” He said the response to pressure, threats, and sanctions would be “more construction, more development, more settlement and, above all, sovereignty.” Kutznitz said the deal is not just a large building plan but a strategic move that will shape the region for decades and turn Karnei Shomron into a leading regional metropolis.