Har Brakha

Har Brakha (Hebrew: הַר בְּרָכָה, lit. Mount [of] Blessing) is an Israeli settlement located on the southern ridge of Mount Gerizim at an elevation of 870 metres (2,850 feet) above sea level, in the West Bank's Samarian Mountains, near the Palestinian city of Nablus. Har Brakha is named after one of the two mountains that are mentioned in Deuteronomy on which half of the twelve tribes of Israel ascended in order to pronounce blessings,^[2] and shares the Mount Gerizim ridge with Kiryat Luza, the main Samaritan village. It is organised as a community settlement and falls under the jurisdiction of Shomron Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 3,165.

The rabbi of Har Bracha and the Har Bracha Yeshiva is Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, author of the Peninei Halakha book series.

The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law. The Israeli government disputes this.^[3]

The land of Har Brakha was confiscated by the Israelis from three nearby Palestinian villages: mostly from Burin,^[4]^[5] but also from Kafr Qallil^[6] and Iraq Burin.^[7]

^ "Regional Statistics". Israel Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^ Deuteronomy 27:11-13
^ "The Geneva Convention". BBC News. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
^ How dispossession happens. The humanitarian impact of the takeover of Palestinian springs by Israeli settlers Archived 2014-02-24 at the Wayback Machine, March 2012, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory
^ Burin Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 17
^ Kafr Qallil Village Profile, ARIJ, p. 15
^ The Expansion of the Colony of Brakha at the Expense of Iraq Burin Lands, October 1, 2009, POICA