Qusra July 2024

Masked settlers from Esh Kodesh attack residents and activists in Qusra. (Obtained by CNN)
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2004

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2026

(Google)

Jalud Dec. 23, 2020

Dozens of masked settlers pelt homes and cars with stones in Jalud. (Obtained by CNN)

Esh Kodesh Dec. 21, 2025

Bezalel Smotrich (center) celebrates the legalization of Esh Kodesh with residents. (Esh Kodesh Community Settlement Facebook)

Jalud March 2026

A crowd of settlers set fire to a building in Jalud during a wave of attacks on cars, fields and houses across multiple Palestinian villages and towns in the area. (Obtained by CNN)
(Google)

The Israeli settlement of Esh Kodesh has served as a launchpad for a yearslong campaign of violence against nearby Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank.

Settlers first established it in 2000 as an outpost, illegal under both Israeli and international law. It grew from a collection of makeshift dwellings and mobile homes to a sprawling site.

As it grew, that violence got worse.

For years the state quietly supported its expansion, until December 2025, when the Israeli government retroactively legalized it. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – a key figure pushing Israeli annexation of the West Bank – celebrated with the settlement’s residents.

Since then, violent attacks on the neighboring Palestinian villages of Qusra and Jalud have only escalated, sometimes with the overt backing of the Israeli military.

After Esh Kodesh’s legalization, settlers establish several new illegal outposts nearby.

And the cycle starts again.