Brukhin

Brukhin is in Samaria near Padu'el. Brukhin Junction lies between the Palestinian localities of Salfit and Bruqin, not far from Ariel.[2][6]

The community is among the localities of the Samaria Regional Council and carries locality code 3744 in the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics registry.[7][3]

Brukhin's origins date to the 1990s, when its founders established the community based on decisions by prior Israeli governments.[4] For years it was described as an unauthorized outpost before receiving retroactive recognition.[4][8] A 2004 Ynet report citing Peace Now aerial-photography data said construction of 25 permanent buildings was continuing at Brukhin.[9]

In April 2012, a ministerial committee that included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon, and Minister without Portfolio Benny Begin voted to authorize Bruchin alongside Sansana and Rechelim. The committee said all three communities had been founded under earlier government decisions.[4]

Following that vote, Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon signed an order in August 2012 recognizing Bruchin as an authorized Israeli settlement.[5] Samaria Regional Council head Gershon Masikah praised the decision as ending "years of injustice."[5]

Brukhin was subsequently added to Israel's national-priority map, together with eight other settlements.[10] Globes reported that Brukhin was one of only three outposts in the recognition process approved as an independent settlement, while most of the others became neighborhoods within existing communities.[8]

As of 2021, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics recorded a population of 2,129 in Brukhin, comprising 2,128 Jews and zero Arab residents.[3] An April 2012 report described approximately 60 families in the community, while an August 2012 report gave a population of around 350.[4][5] Compared with the 2021 figure, these reports indicate substantial population growth following formal recognition.[3]

Brukhin has been the site of several terrorist attacks against its residents and nearby road users. On the evening of February 28, 2025, shots were fired at an Israeli vehicle near the community. The driver reported that a laser pointer had been used to blind him before the shooting began; he was unharmed, but the vehicle sustained damage, and the attackers fled.[11]

A far graver attack occurred in May 2025. Tzala Gez, a 33-year-old emotional therapist and Brukhin resident, and her husband Hananel were traveling to a hospital for the birth of their fourth child when a terrorist opened fire on their car.[2] Tzala was killed, and Hananel was lightly wounded. Doctors performed an emergency cesarean delivery in an effort to save the baby, who was transferred to neonatal intensive care.[2] Hamas praised the shooting but did not claim formal responsibility.[12]

One week after the attack, settlers established a new neighborhood in Brukhin called "Brukhin South." Residents flattened ground and placed caravans near the shooting site, framing the action as a response to terrorism. Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan publicly supported the new neighborhood.[13]

The attack preceded the Israeli cabinet's announcement of a decision to establish 22 new West Bank settlements. The Washington Institute assessed that, if implemented, the decision would represent the most extensive settlement expansion since the Oslo Accords.[1]

The legal status of Brukhin, like that of other Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, is contested. The Israeli government formally authorized the settlement through its 2012 ministerial committee vote and the subsequent military order.[4][5] The international community has generally viewed West Bank settlements and outposts as illegal under international law, a characterization disputed by the Israeli government.[4] Peace Now secretary general Yariv Oppenheimer warned at the time of the authorization that recognizing outposts could create an "irreversible situation."[5]

A discrepancy also exists in official accounts of Brukhin's founding date. The ministerial committee said that the community was established in the 1990s, while the CBS locality table lists 2012 as its year of establishment.[4][3] The difference is consistent with 2012 representing formal recognition rather than physical founding, although the CBS table itself does not explain the discrepancy.