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 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 Nahal 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 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]

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