Settlers Inaugurate Synagogue at Revived Homesh Outpost in West Bank

Israeli settlers, some of them carrying rifles, gathered at the Homesh settlement in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday to inaugurate a new synagogue, singing, dancing and carrying Torah scrolls through the site.

For those who attended, the event marked a celebration. For Palestinians in the nearby village of Burqa, the return of settlers to the location carried a different significance.

Homesh sits deep in the northern West Bank, close to Burqa. Israel dismantled the settlement in 2005, but formally approved its reestablishment last year, permitting settlers to live at the site and connect to Israel's water and electricity networks.

Residents of Burqa say the settlement limits their access to privately owned farmland around the area. Israel's Supreme Court has acknowledged that land at the original settlement belonged to Palestinians from the village.

The synagogue's inauguration forms part of a wider expansion of Israeli settlements and outposts that has further constrained Palestinian movement and access to land. This expansion has coincided with a sharp increase in settler attacks on Palestinians and their property, violence that rights groups say is rarely prosecuted.

Most of the international community regards all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this position, pointing to security concerns and historical and religious ties to the territory.

For the settlers, the synagogue represents a return. For Palestinians living nearby, it represents the continuing loss of land, freedom of movement and the fading prospect of self-governance.