How Two Settler Brothers are Driving Palestinians from West Bank With State Backing

In the occupied West Bank, as Israel pushes to drive away Palestinians and illegally establish settlements, two Israeli brothers have emerged as the leading operators, according to a new Reuters investigation.

The brothers, Eliav and Harel “Coco” Libi, are behind a rapid expansion of unauthorized settler outposts across the West Bank, using prefabricated homes, livestock and infrastructure to establish footholds on land used by Palestinians while receiving financial and political support from the Israeli state.

The Libis have helped establish at least nine farming outposts since the Gaza war began. Several have been linked to the displacement of Palestinian herding communities.

At least three have subsequently received official Israeli recognition.

A Faster Settlement Model

The brothers’ company, Libi Construction and Infrastructure, is building a factory in the settlement of Shilo to produce prefabricated structures used in farm outposts.

The model is designed for speed.

Rather than beginning with formally approved neighborhoods, outposts can start with one or two simple buildings. Young Israeli herders then move livestock onto surrounding territory also used by Palestinian shepherds and farmers.

Such outposts are unauthorized under Israeli law when established without prior approval in areas under Israeli administrative control.

The wider settlement project is regarded as illegal under international law. Israel disputes that position.

Settlers built 184 unauthorized outposts in the three years through 2025, according to Peace Now, almost as many as during the previous three decades.

The group says 86 were established in 2025 alone.

Peace Now and the Palestinian government in the West Bank estimate there are now about 410 outposts.

Government Backing

The Libis’ operations have benefited from Israeli government support.

Authorities granted a license for the new factory, issued grazing permits and provided agricultural funding.

Government records also show grants to the brothers’ company and settlements associated with them.

Between 2021 and 2025, the company and two settlements received 168,586 shekels in Agriculture Ministry funding, with another 107,357 shekels approved for 2026.

Peace Now has said that about $1 million in Agriculture Ministry funding was approved more broadly for outposts.

The Defense Ministry has also hired the brothers’ company for work, including operations in Gaza.

“We work for them in all kinds of military places and bases,” Harel Libi told Reuters.

At least three outposts established by the brothers have also received official recognition, opening the way for their expansion into larger settlements.

Defense Minister Israel Katz met Eliav Libi in August, when Libi presented a proposal for settlement construction in Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank, according to two Israeli officials cited in the reporting.

Katz has said he is working, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support, to “regularize” dozens of farm outposts.

Palestinians Pushed Out

The expansion has had direct consequences for nearby Palestinian communities.

At least 434 people, mainly semi-nomadic Bedouin herders, have left areas near outposts associated with the Libis since 2022, according to a Reuters tally based on B’Tselem displacement data.

The outposts are concentrated around Duma, Al-Mughayir and Fasayill.

Israeli activist Dror Etkes estimated that the brothers’ network has restricted Palestinian access to about 10,000 hectares, or 25,000 acres, using livestock, fences, roads and intimidation.

Duma, a centuries-old Palestinian village overlooking the Jordan Valley, is now surrounded by outposts established by the Libis.

Suleiman Dawabsheh, head of Duma’s village council, accused Eliav Libi of seeking Palestinian displacement and the seizure of land.

One case involved the al-Abayyat family near Fasayill and the Mitzpe Michal outpost.

The family and eyewitnesses said settlers brought cattle into its garden, dumped rotting dates beside the home as feed, played loud music, and cut water and electricity connections.

In March, an excavator demolished the family home while Israeli soldiers watched.

The military said the structures had been built illegally and were demolished by Israeli authorities, with troops providing security.

Six families ultimately left the area under pressure, according to B’Tselem.

Duma Under Pressure

A similar pattern was reported around Giborei David, another outpost linked to the Libis.

Duma residents said 11 Bedouin families were displaced after its construction.

Village officials said settlers had taken control of water resources, damaged electricity supplies and seized access to about 700 hectares of land.

Daif Allaa, one of the Palestinians who left the area, said settlers threw stones at his home, cut off electricity and assaulted members of his family.

“They do not want anyone to be on the land,” he said. “They do not want any Arabs there.”

The Israeli government granted Giborei David official recognition in March.

From Fringe to Policy

The brothers’ role reflects a broader shift in Israeli policy toward farm outposts.

One settler involved in coordinating settlement activity with the army said the military had previously viewed unauthorized farms as a burden.

After the October 7 Hamas attacks, he said, commanders increasingly saw them as a way to keep Palestinian communities away from Israeli settlements.

“It became a solution,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of Israel’s Central Command, later spoke of a “huge change” in the military’s view of farms that coordinate with the army.

In May, Bluth showed reporters a presentation saying 160 farms had been established in coordination with the military.

The military denied formal relations with the Libi brothers but said it coordinated with unregulated farm outposts for security purposes.

‘Practical Sovereignty’

The outposts also fit a broader political strategy promoted by members of Netanyahu’s coalition.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said settlement expansion is intended to block the creation of a Palestinian state.

In June, he described the approach as imposing “practical sovereignty” over the West Bank.

Eliav Libi has regular contact with senior officials including Smotrich, Katz and Settlements Minister Orit Strook, according to the reporting.

Netanyahu has also openly praised the farm model.

During an August visit to the West Bank, he said 160 new farm outposts had been built and that “more are on the way.”

An Expanding Network

The Libis have built what one settler who knows them described as a West Bank “empire” spanning quarrying, cement production, road construction, settlement building and farming.

Their new prefabrication factory gives that model an industrial base.

At the same time, unauthorized farms are moving closer to the center of Israeli settlement policy, supported by grants, permits, military coordination and a pathway to retroactive recognition.

For Palestinian communities around Duma and the Jordan Valley, the consequences are already visible in lost grazing land, demolished homes, and families driven from areas where they had lived or herded.