Kokhav HaShahar


Kokhav HaShahar is an Israeli settlement organized as a community settlement in the Binyamin region of northern West Bank. Located on a mountain ridge overlooking the Jordan Valley, and accessible via the Allon Road, it falls under the municipal jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. In, it had a population of.
The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

Kokhav HaShahar was founded by nine young couples in 1979 on the site of an Israel Defense Forces outpost
According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from two Palestinian villages in order to construct Kokhav HaShahar:
Near Kokhav HaShahar is a site of one of many quarries operated by Israeli companies in the West Bank. Yesh Din legal counsel Michael Sfard said that "according to international law, so long as the West Bank is not annexed to Israel, it is forbidden for Israel to exploit the natural resources there for non-security related purposes." Sfard also stated that 74% of the gravel mined from these quarries is used for construction inside Israel, and that that means the existence of the quarries violates international law.
Maoz Esther, north of Kokhav HaShahar and east of Ramallah, was an outpost established in 2005 by Kokhav HaShahar residents in memory of Ester Galia of Kokhav HaShahar who was murdered at Rimonim junction. The Israel Police destroyed the settlement's seven huts in May 2009. Since then, settlers have repeatedly rebuilt the outpost, and police have each time removed the huts.