Beit Aryeh-Ofarim

Beit Aryeh-Ofarim (Hebrew: בֵּית אַרְיֵה-עֳפָרִים) is an Israeli settlement and local council in the northern West Bank. It is located 32 kilometers (20 mi) north of Jerusalem and 25 kilometers (16 mi) east of Tel Aviv, near the Palestinian village of al-Lubban al-Gharbi, 3.8 km kilometers east of the Green line. It is situated on the Palestinian side of the Israeli West Bank barrier,^[2] on 8,500 dunams of land. In 2022 it had a population of 5,517.

Beit Aryeh בֵּית אַרְיֵה-עֳפָרִים‎ بيت آريه
Local council (from 1989)
Beit Aryeh
Coordinates: 32°2′15″N 35°2′59″E
Region	West Bank
District	Judea and Samaria Area
Governorate	Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate
Founded	1981
Government
• Head of Municipality	Yehuda Elboim
Area
• Total	8,500 dunams (8.5 km2 or 3.3 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[1]
• Total	5,517
• Density	650/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
Name meaning	House of Aryeh - Fawns

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, but the Israeli government disputes this.^[3][4]

History

Established in 1981, Beit Aryeh was recognised as a local council in 1989. In 2004, it merged with Ofarim. Beit Aryeh was named for former Knesset member Aryeh Ben-Eliezer, a prominent Revisionist Zionist leader who was amongst the founders of Herut.^[5]

According to ARIJ, the land for Beit Aryeh-Ofarim was confiscated by Israel from two nearby Palestinian villages: Aboud^[6] and Al-Lubban al-Gharbi.^[7][8]

In 2011, the Israeli Ministry of Defense signed an agreement with the municipality of Beit Aryeh approving the construction of 100 homes and a bypass road between Beit Aryeh and Ofarim.^[9]

In 2020, Beit Aryeh-Ofarim was one of several Israeli settlements that dumped its untreated sewage onto lands of the nearby Palestinian village of Deir Ballut.^[10]

Notable residents

• Doron Matalon
• Aleks Tarn
• Neil Druckmann

References

1. "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
2. "Beit Arye". Peace Now. Archived from the original on 2013-10-13. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
3. "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
4. "Israel announces plans for 1,400 new settlement homes". BBC. 10 January 2014. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this...Israel's housing ministry issued tenders for the construction of 801 housing units in West Bank settlements, including Efrat, Elkana and Emanuel, and 600 in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem.
5. Aryeh Ben-Eliezer Knesset
6. ‘Abud Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 17
7. Al Lubban al Gharbi Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 16
8. Yumna Patel, 'Drowning among Israeli settlements, an ancient Christian village in Palestine struggles to survive,' Mondoweiss 17 August 2018
9. "100 Homes and a Bypass Road Approved in Beit Arye". Peace Now. 29 August 2011. Archived from the original on 2013-10-09. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
10. 'Paradise lost': How Israel turned the West Bank into a sewage dump for its settlements, By Shatha Hammad, 21 October 2020, Middle East Eye

External links

• Local council website Archived 2013-05-24 at the Wayback Machine (in Hebrew)