(TPS) Arabs set fire to a synagogue at Mitzpe Ziv on Tuesday night and severely damaged it, the latest attack by locals on the Jewish house of worship.

The synagogue of Mitzpe Ziv, situated a few kilometers south of Kiryat Arba, was set on fire probably with a burning tire that was thrown into the building and which ignited the furniture, causing significant damage to the place.

Mitzpe Ziv was established in memory of two Israeli security guards, Yehuda Ben Yosef and Yoav Doron, who were killed in March 2003 in a “friendly fire” incident. The two security guards were posted there to secure the nearby route after the shooting attack that took place there in 2002, in which the couple Yossi and Hani Dickstein, their son Shuvael, and Sgt. Elazar Leibowitz were killed.

In recent years, the synagogue has been set on fire several times by Arabs and subsequently restored by Israeli residents of the area.

Head of the Har Hebron Regional Council Yochai Damari stated Wednesday that “we will not be deterred. We will continue to be here, to live here, and to develop the place.”