At the Gate of the Northern Jordan Valley: Misbar Tracks Two Settlement Projects Near Tayasir Checkpoint

In late July, Israeli occupation forces brought a new batch of mobile homes, or caravans, into the area of the former military base near Tayasir Checkpoint, east of Tubas Governorate.

Mutaz Bisharat, the official responsible for the settlement file in Tubas Governorate, said Israeli forces brought more than 20 caravans to the site.

The move coincided with land leveling and excavation work as part of the construction of the “Goder” settlement, which the Israeli Cabinet approved in May 2025 as part of a decision covering 22 settlement sites in the occupied West Bank. The settlement was initially given the temporary name “Tivets” before officially being named “Goder” in October of the same year.

The new construction is located along Route 5799, near Tayasir Checkpoint, which controls Palestinian movement between Tubas Governorate and communities in the northern Jordan Valley.

While tracking changes around the checkpoint, Misbar found that they were concentrated at two separate sites, each linked to a different settlement project. The first is the “Tzvi Ofrem” outpost, also known as the “Tayasir Checkpoint Farm,” established near the checkpoint in February 2025. The second is the “Goder” settlement, which is being constructed on the grounds of the former Hammamat al-Maleh military camp.

Despite their geographic proximity, the coordinates, timeline and satellite imagery show that the two projects are located at separate sites and began construction at different stages.

Two Adjacent Settlement Projects Near Tayasir Checkpoint

An analysis of satellite imagery shows that settlement expansion around Tayasir Checkpoint did not begin with the recent construction work at the “Goder” settlement. It was preceded by the establishment of the “Tzvi Ofrem” outpost at a nearby site.

The timeline shows that although the two sites are close to one another, they followed different trajectories. Work at the first site began with an agricultural and pastoral settlement outpost in early 2025, while the first visible signs of construction linked to the government-approved settlement near the former military camp appeared in June, with the changes becoming more pronounced in July.

A Sentinel-2 image captured by the Copernicus program on Jan. 29, 2025, showed no new settlement structures in the area adjacent to Tayasir Checkpoint. The prominent features were limited to the checkpoint facilities and remnants of the former military camp.

In an image captured on Feb. 28, 2025, clear changes appeared at the site northeast of the checkpoint, including land preparation and the emergence of new construction elements, consistent with reports documenting settlement activity at the site during the same month.

An image captured on April 21, 2025, showed a limited expansion in the scope of construction and structures at the outpost compared with the February image, suggesting that the site had moved from an initial preparation phase to gradual expansion.

Data from the Israeli organization Peace Now also supports the identification of the site. The organization classifies “Tzvi Ofrem” as an agricultural settlement outpost established in 2025 and lists “Tayasir Checkpoint Farm” as another name for it.

On April 21, 2026, settlers raided the nearby Hammamat al-Maleh community and demolished at least two residential structures and a donor-funded elementary school serving about 60 children from surrounding pastoral communities. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said the settlers were likely from a newly established outpost near Tayasir Checkpoint, a description that geographically and chronologically corresponds to the “Tzvi Ofrem” outpost.

The incident displaced the three remaining Palestinian families in the community, totaling 15 people, including six children. Hammamat al-Maleh thereby became one of six communities in Tubas Governorate completely displaced since 2023 due to settler attacks and Israeli restrictions.

A Year After Its Approval, Construction Begins on the “Goder” Settlement

The “Goder” settlement was included in the Israeli Cabinet’s decision concerning 22 settlement sites in the West Bank. The decision included nine entirely new settlements, 12 outposts whose status was to be regularized, and an existing community that was to be recognized as an independent settlement.

However, Sentinel-2 satellite imagery showed no clear construction changes within the former Hammamat al-Maleh military camp through June 15. Visible activity remained concentrated at the neighboring “Tzvi Ofrem” outpost, which had been gradually expanding near Tayasir Checkpoint.

A comparison of two images captured on June 15 and 18 marks the beginning of a new phase. No newly constructed route was visible in the first image, while the second showed the beginning of a road being cut near the checkpoint, placing the start of the work between the two dates.

Over the following weeks, the route expanded and became progressively more defined, alongside excavation and land preparation extending around it and toward its endpoint. On July 3, the first visible signs of changes within the former military camp appeared.

By July 28, the road construction and preparation work was nearing completion, while changes inside the former camp had become more apparent. Excavated areas had expanded and new elements had appeared at the site, coinciding with reports that a new batch of mobile homes had been brought in and that land leveling was continuing as part of the field implementation of the “Goder” settlement.

The latest available image, captured on Aug. 2, shows continued work inside and around the settlement site, while the “Tzvi Ofrem” outpost remains at its neighboring location near the checkpoint.

According to a measurement conducted by Misbar using a geographic polygon encompassing the two sites, the newly constructed road and surrounding excavation work, the area monitored covers approximately 0.88 square kilometers, or about 880 dunams, with a perimeter of approximately 4.2 kilometers.

Why Tayasir Checkpoint?

The significance of the “Tzvi Ofrem” outpost and “Goder” settlement stems from their location along Route 5799 and their proximity to Tayasir Checkpoint, which controls one of the main crossing routes between communities in the northern Jordan Valley and the western parts of Tubas Governorate, including routes toward Jenin and Nablus.

The checkpoint’s impact became particularly clear after it was closed on Feb. 4, 2025, for two months. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented disruptions to the movement of more than 60,000 Palestinians traveling to workplaces, markets, health facilities and schools.

After the checkpoint was partially reopened in early April, about 140 teachers and staff members at seven schools and a kindergarten had to take a longer route. In some cases, the journey took up to two hours instead of about 30 minutes, affecting the regular education of approximately 1,100 students in Bardala, Kardala and al-Maleh.

A review of local reports by Misbar found that they indicated residents and educational staff traveling to communities in the northern Jordan Valley were forced to pass through the Hamra Checkpoint whenever Tayasir Checkpoint was closed.

Misbar traced the two routes using Google Maps and identified the usual route, which runs east through Tayasir Checkpoint toward the northern Jordan Valley, and the alternative route, which heads west toward Tubas before turning south through Hamra Checkpoint and then north toward the affected communities. Misbar selected Bardala as a representative destination to illustrate the geographic difference between the two routes.

Using Google Maps’ distance measurement tool, the regular route between Tayasir and Bardala is approximately 18.3 kilometers, compared with about 44.4 kilometers for the main alternative route through Hamra Checkpoint, adding approximately 26 kilometers to the journey.

The remains of the Hammamat al-Maleh military camp are also located near the checkpoint. The Israeli military previously used the site as an advanced training base for paratroopers.

Israeli sources indicate that the site began being used for paratrooper training in 1981 before being abandoned as a permanent training base in 2003, after training was moved to another camp. Parts of the site’s structures remained standing, while the area was later used for occasional military exercises before being selected for the construction of the “Goder” settlement.

Unprecedented Settlement Expansion in the West Bank

The settlement expansion near Tayasir Checkpoint is part of a broader wave across the northern Jordan Valley and the West Bank that has been underway since early 2023 and accelerated following the outbreak of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

In its most recent documentation of settlement expansion using satellite imagery, Misbar tracked the construction of a new settlement atop Mount Ebal in Nablus and the relocation of dozens of settler families there, as part of Israeli plans to expand its settlement presence and consolidate its control over the West Bank.

According to a report issued by Peace Now and Kerem Navot in July, 185 settlement outposts were established between 2023 and 2025, while the government approved the establishment or recognition of 102 settlements and advanced plans for approximately 40,064 settlement housing units.

In 2025 alone, the Israeli government approved the establishment or regularization of 54 settlements and established 86 outposts, while advancing plans for approximately 27,941 settlement housing units in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem.

Settlement expansion has continued this year. In March, the Cabinet approved the establishment of 34 additional settlements. The government also allocated approximately 2.49 billion shekels between March and June to prepare sites for new settlements, develop their plans and construct access roads.

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