Sofas, refrigerators and boxes packed with belongings rolled into the new community of Eival this morning as its first families began building their lives on Mount Ebal.

The community was established in a rapid overnight operation led by the Samaria Regional Council and Amana following government approval. Its first stage included an agricultural yeshiva affiliated with Elon Moreh, near the biblical site identified as Joshua’s Altar.

“This land waited empty for construction for thousands of years,” Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan declared. “Six hundred families will live here.”

Eival is a key part of the council’s “One Million in Samaria” plan, aimed at transforming the region through new communities, infrastructure and large-scale population growth. What began with caravans on an empty ridge is now becoming a permanent Jewish community.