On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the Israeli Civil Administration announced the granting of a building permit exemption for the construction of a fence, gates, perimeter lighting, and concrete shelters around the Masoudia train station building (also known as the Sebastia train station). About a year and a half ago, the Israeli government approved a budget of 3.5 million shekels for renovating the building and establishing a tourist center there. The exemption allows work to begin immediately.
The historic train station is situated north of Nablus, in an area without Israeli settlements, adjacent to Area B and close to a Palestinian resort site. Local Palestinians utilize the area as a picnic park. Since there is no approved development or construction plan for the site, the Civil Administration used a “planning bypass” procedure that allows for the establishment of settlement sites without going through the lengthy planning process, which typically includes public objections.
Transforming the train station into a tourist site is part of the Israeli government’s broader plan to increase its presence in the densely populated Palestinian areas between Nablus and Jenin. In March 2023, the Israeli Knesset repealed the Disengagement Law, which allows Israelis to legally “return” to the area. Since then, the government has promoted a series of settlement-related projects north of Nablus: authorizing the outpost of Homesh, advancing archaeological development at the Sebastia site—where work has recently begun—and in May, approving the establishment of the settlements of Sa-Nur and Homesh.
Since the 2005 disengagement, there has been no Israeli presence in the north of Nablus area, apart from the Homesh outpost established in recent years. The creation of a tourist center at the train station (alongside development at the archaeological mound of Sebastia) is meant to create a permanent Israeli presence—both civilian and military—and effectively turn the area into a de facto settlement.
Peace Now: “Turning the Masoudia train station into a tourist site is, in fact, the establishment of a new settlement. This is not a heritage site—it’s part of a deliberate government plan to plant settlements deep inside a densely populated Palestinian area between Nablus and Jenin. These projects will increase the security burden, deepen the occupation, and advance annexation. The only ‘heritage’ being promoted here is the legacy of lawlessness and brute force championed by the Gush Emunim settler movement, which, then as now, acted illegally, clashed with security forces, and imposed facts on the ground for which the State of Israel continues to pay a heavy price to this day.”
Historical Context
In December 2023, Israel’s Ministry of Finance submitted a request to the Knesset Finance Committee to approve the transfer of 3.5 million shekels for a “regional heritage project in Samaria.” The explanatory notes indicated that the funds were designated for the “preservation and renovation of the Masoudia train station site in Samaria, a site where modern settlement in the area began following the 1967 war, in the early 1970s.” The project was approved as a “heritage” project by the Ministry of Heritage and is being carried out by the Samaria Regional Council.
Settlers mistakenly identify the Masoudia station as the Sebastia station. The train station was built by the Ottomans between 1912 and 1914 as part of the rail line between Nablus and Afula. It was operational for only a few years.
In 1974 and 1975, thousands of demonstrators gathered at the site in an effort to establish a settlement there. At the time, the Israeli government opposed the creation of settlements deep inside the West Bank and focused its efforts on the Jordan Valley. The demonstrators were forcibly evacuated, resulting in intense clashes between them and security forces. Eventually, during the third attempt, a compromise was reached: the settlers agreed to peacefully evacuate the train station in exchange for government approval to establish a settlement near the village of Qadum, on the site of a former military base. This later became the settlement of Kedumim.
North of the West Bank, Sebastiya area