El Matan

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}

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{{Infobox Kibbutz

| name = El Matan

| foundation = 2000

| founded_by = Religious youths

| country =

| district = js

| council = Shomron

| pushpin_map=Israel shomron

| pushpin_mapsize=250|pushpin_label_position=top

| coordinates = {{coord|32|09|04|N|35|04|31|E|display=inline,title}}

}}

El Matan ({{langx|he|אל מתן||Towards Matan' or 'God's Gift}}) is an illegal Israeli outpost in the West Bank on the lands of the Palestinian village of Wad Qana, located around a kilometer south of Ma'ale Shomron, under the jurisdiction of the Shomron Regional Council. The outpost was established in 2000 on the Wadi Qana Nature reserve – one of the largest and most important such reserves in the West Bank{{cite web|author=Zafrir Rinat|url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/outposts-blossom-in-w-bank-nature-reserves-1.111164|title=Outposts blossom in W. Bank nature reserves|website=Haaretz|date=16 January 2004}} – by a group of religious youths from the nearby settlements of (Karnei Shomron and Ma'ale Shomron).{{cite web| url=http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/elmatan| title=Elmatan|website=Peace Now| accessdate=2011-03-29| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718120954/http://peacenow.org.il/eng/content/elmatan| archive-date=2011-07-18| url-status=dead}} It is home to an estimated population of 48 (2008),{{cite web| url=http://peacenow.org.il/eng/sites/default/files/outposts_database_1.xls| title=Outposts list|website=Peace Now| accessdate=2011-03-29| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718121014/http://peacenow.org.il/eng/sites/default/files/outposts_database_1.xls| archive-date=2011-07-18| url-status=dead}} around 16 families and a small number of singles, both religious and non-religious Jews.

El Matan is considered an unauthorized outpost by the Israeli government and is illegal under Israeli and international law.{{cite news| url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3722001,00.html| title=Court freezes construction in West Bank outpost| author=| newspaper=Ynetnews| date=May 26, 2009| accessdate=2011-03-29}} The international community does not differentiate between Israeli outposts and Israeli settlements authorized by the Israeli government.{{cite web|author=Mark Weiss|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2011/1012/1224305638663.html|title=Israeli body to examine legalising outposts|website=The Irish Times|date=12 October 2011}} The international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, though the Israeli government disputes this.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1682640.stm|title=The Geneva Convention|website=BBC News|date=10 December 2009}}{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4346395.stm|title=Annan hopeful over Mid-East peace|website=BBC News|date=14 March 2005}}

A synagogue erected on the site was closed down for lacking a building permit from the authorities in the Israeli Civil Administration.{{cite web|author=Aviad Glickman|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3979945,00.html|title=Agreement: Settlers to seal El Matan synagogue|website=Ynetnews|date=4 November 2010}} On 2 October 2014 Haaretz carried notification of a master plan envisaging the confiscation from Wad Qana, an area farmed by Palestinians, of 100 dunams of land for the El Matan outpost.{{cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141226155717/http://www.poica.org/details.php?Article=7136|title=The occupation puts hand on 100 dunums to expand the outpost of El Matan in Wad Qana|website=POICA|date=2 October 2010}}