Ahiya ( he, אחיה; also transliterated as Achiya or Achia) is an

Israeli outpost In Israeli law, an outpost ( he, מאחז, ''Ma'ahaz'' lit. "a handhold") is an unauthorized or illegal Israeli settlement within the West Bank, constructed without the required authorization from the Israeli government in contravention of Israel ...

in the

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, about 1.5 km southeast of the

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

village of

Jalud Jalud ( ar, جاﻟﻭﺩ) is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate in the northern West Bank. It is approximately south of Nablus and is situated just east of Qaryut, south of Qusra and northeast of Shilo, an Israeli settlement. Its la ...

. It falls under the purview of the

Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Mateh Binyamin Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית מטה בנימין, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Binyamin,'' Lit. Council for the Region of the Tribe of Benjamin) is a regional council governing 46 Israeli settlements and outposts in th ...

. Israeli outposts are considered illegal both under international law as well as under Israeli law. It is named after the Biblical prophet

Ahijah the Shilonite Ahijah the Shilonite ( ''ʾĂḥīyā'' meaning " Yah is my brother") was a Levite prophet of Shiloh in the days of Solomon, as mentioned in the Hebrew Bible's First Books of Kings. Ahijah foretold to Jeroboam that he would become king (). Th ...

who lived in Shiloh, which is about 3 km to its west.

Demographics

As of 2004 permanent construction of homes in Ahiya was being carried out. As of 2011 the population of Ahiya was about 50 people.

Geography

Ahiya is near the Israeli outpost of

Shvut Rachel Shvut Rachel ( he, שבות רחל) is a former Israeli illegal settlement in the West Bank, retroactively designated a "neighborhood" of the settlement of Shilo, in the West Bank. Shvut Rachel sits between the Palestinian villages of Turmus Ay ...

as well as the Palestinian village of

. According to ARIJ, Israel confiscated land from the

villages of

and

Qusra Qusra (also Kusra) ( ar, قُصرة) is a Palestinian village in the Nablus Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the northern West Bank, located 28 kilometers southeast of Nablus. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS ...

in order to construct the

s of Ahiya and

Esh Kodesh Esh Kodesh (, lit. ''Sacred Fire'') is an Israeli outpost in the West Bank near Shilo. It falls under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council. Israeli outposts in the West Bank are considered illegal both under international law ...

Economy

Ahiya has the only Jewish owned oil press in the region. Settlers from the region bring their olives to Ahiya to be pressed.

Attacks against Palestinians

Palestinian farmers from nearby

have accused settlers from Ahiya of taking harvested olives from them by force. On 9 February 2011, Israeli settlers from Ahiya attacked Jalud, demanding residents evacuate their houses and physically attacking local residents.Armed settlers attack West Bank village
. ''

Ma'an News Agency Ma'an News Agency (MNA; ar, وكالة معا الإخبارية) is a large wire service created in 2005 in the Palestinian territories. It is part of the Ma'an Network, a non-governmental organization media network created in 2002 in the Palest ...

''. 2011-02-09. Retrieved on 2012-02-21. In 2022, ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'' reported that residents of Ahiya attacked the nearby

village of

with firebombs, torching cars and house yards, in what the Israeli newspaper called a "''pogrom''", "flaunt evil" and "

settler A settler is a person who has human migration, migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a ...

terror".

References

{{Judea and Samaria Mateh Binyamin Regional Council Israeli settlements in the West Bank Populated places established in 1997 Israeli outposts Unauthorized Israeli settlements