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El Matan
El Matan (Hebrew: אל מתן, lit. 'Towards Matan' or 'God's Gift') is an illegal Israeli outpost in the West Bank on the lands of the Palestinian village of Wad Qana,[1] located around a kilometer south of Ma'ale Shomron, under the jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. The outpost was established in 2000 on the Wadi Qana Nature reserve — one of the largest and most important such reserves in the West Bank[2] — by a group of religious youths from the nearby settlements of (Karnei Shomron and Ma'ale Shomron).[3] It is home to an estimated population of 48 (2008),[4] around 16 families and a small number of singles, both religious and non-religious Jews. El Matan is considered an unauthorized outpost by the Israeli government and is illegal under Israeli and international law.[5] The international community does not differentiate between Israeli outposts and Israeli settlements authorized by the Israeli government.[6] The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, though the Israeli government disputes this.[7][8] A synagogue erected on the site was closed down for lacking a building permit from the authorities in the Israeli Civil Administration.[9] On 2 October 2014, Haaretz carried notification of a master plan envisaging the confiscation from Wad Qana, an area farmed by Palestinians, of 100 dunams of land for the El Matan outpost.[1] References
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