DHAKA: After a long court battle, Palestinian farmers have reclaimed land they lost to an Israeli settlement in the 1970s.

Israel dismantled Homesh and three other West Bank settlements in 2005, in connection with a wider withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, but refused to let the original Palestinian landowners return to the Homesh area.

The Israeli group Yesh Din says it fought a successful legal battle to restore the land to the farmers.

On Thursday, farmers from the village of Burka returned to their nearby land for the first time, reports The Straits Times.

BDST: 1841 HRS, OCT 03, 2013
RoR/JCK