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Editor's note:
Right-wing Israeli activists are ramping up their fringe campaign to establish Jewish settlements inside Syria by staging frequent incursions across the border. The Israeli army has been occupying the area in southern Syria for a year and a half, but the regular forays by civilian settler groups are a newer development.
The settlers are part of a group called the Pioneers of Bashan. They are named after the biblical Bashan region, which includes part of modern-day Syria and Jordan.
They have their sights set on an area of southwestern Syria that includes the provinces of Quneitra, Daraa and Sweida. Part of this area, including the summit of Mount Hermon, is a “buffer zone” Israel declared in December 2024.
The region was known in Scripture for its fertile land and came to be associated with strength and divine providence. Members of the group claim a historical right to these lands and argue that their presence there will help Israel defend the Golan Heights.
Religion News
Released Texas pastors say immigration agents threatened family separation
At a Sunday service after their release, which was backed by a range of Latino evangelical groups, the Assemblies of God pastors urged Christians to speak out for immigrants. By Aleja Hertzler-McCain/Religion News Service
Judge dismisses a lawsuit over makeup of Trump's Religious Liberty Commission
A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit from an interfaith group challenging the legitimacy of President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, dismissing claims that its overwhelmingly conservative Christian makeup lacked a legally required balance of viewpoints. By Peter Smith/The Associated Press
Led by Zach Lambert, Restore church is part of a small but growing countertrend. By Kathryn Post/Religion News Service
Bosnian authorities investigate desecration and fire damage at Medjugorje Virgin Mary shrine
In 2024, the Vatican gave the green light for Catholics to continue flocking to the Bosnian village of Medjugorje, where children reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary. The statute of Mary recently was desecrated; authorities are investigating. By The Associated Press
UNESCO adds West Bank site and Lebanese castles to World Heritage List despite Israeli objections
A United Nations committee has inscribed a major archaeological site in the West Bank and a group of castles in southern Lebanon on the World Heritage List. Israel had urged the committee to reject the bids. By Kim Tong-Hyun/The Associated Press
Commentary and Analysis
An anthropologist who conducted fieldwork among Falun Gong practitioners explains the movement’s beliefs and why its followers continue to resist the Chinese government. By Gareth Fisher for The Conversation
Antisemitic attacks are rising in New York and in the US. So is the danger of believing that's the whole story. By Brad Hirschfield/Religion News Service
European colonial powers linked church and state. But the founders of the United States broke from that idea as surely as they broke from Britain. By Peter C. Mancall for The Conversation
Native religions are tied to living landscapes, not points on a map – a scholar of Indigenous studies explains what's at stake. By Kerri J. Malloy for The Conversation
Parishioners wearing birdlike costumes arrive for the annual procession honoring 16th-century St. Francis Solano in Emboscada, Paraguay, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
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