Israeli settlers on Sunday began building a synagogue in an illegal outpost near the city of Bethlehem, the occupied West Bank, in the latest act of provocation by such individuals on Palestinian land.
The building of the synagogue follows the erection of more outposts around the town of Teqoa, the seizure of Palestinian properties such as water wells and the paving of settlement roads.
The mayor of Teqoa, Tayseer Abu Mufreh, told local media that settlers have begun building the synagogue in a settlement outpost established in the Riyah Riyah area of the town's hills, shortly after Israel began its military campaign in the Gaza Strip after 7 October 2023.
A similar incident was reported back in 2017 in Qalqilya, in the northeast of the West Bank. In 2021, Israel’s Religious Services Ministers said that millions of shekels would be allocated to building synagogues and religious institutions in the West Bank.
Israeli forces and settlers increased their attacks on Palestinians and their properties following the outbreak of the war on Gaza. Over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, while 20,000 have been arrested and detained.
Palestinian homes were also destroyed routinely, specifically in areas where Israeli soldiers carried out military operations, such as the Jenin and Tulkarem camps.
Settlers, emboldened by far-right politicians such as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have sought to establish more outposts, seize land and drive out Palestinians from their homes amid the war.
The Israeli government has also threatened to annex and fully control the West Bank, which has been occupied since 1967. But Donald Trump said he wouldn’t allow Tel Aviv to do such in a meeting with Arab and Islamic leaders in September.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, settlers set several Palestinian vehicles ablaze in Majdal Bani Fadel, southeast of Nablus, and Taybeh, near Ramallah, where they sprayed anti-Palestinian graffiti.
Meanwhile, in the village of al-Mughayyir, settlers uprooted nearly 150 olive trees. Other properties were confiscated elsewhere.
This follows a series of settler attacks on Palestinian farmers over the weekend, coinciding with harvest season.
Around 7,154 settler attacks have been documented since October 2023 in the West Bank, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.