Hermesh ( he, חֶרְמֵשׁ, ''lit.'' Scythe) is an

Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...

in the western Samarian hills of 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 ...

. Founded in 1984, it is organised as a

community settlement A community settlement ( he, יישוב קהילתי, ''Yishuv Kehilati'') is a type of village in Israel and the West Bank. While in an ordinary town anyone may buy property, in a community settlement the village's residents are organized in ...

and falls under the jurisdiction of

Shomron Regional Council The Shomron Regional Council ( he, מועצה אזורית שומרון, ''Mo'atza Azorit Shomron'', English ''Samaria Regional Council'') is an Israeli regional council in the northern portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Thirty-five Isra ...

. In it had a population of . The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be illegal, but the Israeli government disputes this.

History

Hermesh was established in 1984 by the

Mishkei Herut Beitar Mishkei Herut Beitar ( he, משקי חרות בית"ר) is a revisionist Zionist settlement movement in Israel, affiliated with Beitar and Likud. It is based in the Metzudat Ze'ev offices on King George Street in Tel Aviv. History Early Mishkei H ...

settlement organization. Most of the residents of Hermesh are secular Jews or non-Jews. More than half of the population are new immigrants, mainly from the former Soviet Union. Their motivation for living in the region is not ideology but quality of life.Settlers in Hermesh, home of attack victim, make no ideological claims

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 ...

On 29 October 2002, three residents of Hermesh, Orna Eshel (53), Hadas Turgeman (14), and Linoy Saroussi (14) were shot dead by a Palestinian gunman who entered the village armed with a Kalashnikov. A soldier and a resident were wounded in the attack.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades () is a coalition of Palestinian armed groups in the West Bank. The organization has been designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States. L ...

claimed responsibility.Victims of Palestinian Violence and Terrorism since September 2000
On 20 June 2005, a resident of Hermesh, Yevgeny Reider (28) was killed in a shooting attack near Baqa ash-Sharqiyya, in the northern West Bank. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack.

References

{{Shomron Regional Council Israeli settlements in the West Bank Populated places established in 1984 1984 establishments in the Palestinian territories