Over 15,000 protestors gathered in the pouring rain on the Samarian hilltop of Chomesh on Thursday in an effort to push the Israeli government to re-establish the site as a viable Israeli village.

The march was led by Ethia Dementman widow of 25-year old Yehuda Dementman, who was killed in a terror shooting earlier this week.

Chomesh was at one point an official village until its destruction in 2005. It along with several other northern Samarian towns were destroyed as a part of Israel’s infamous disengagement from Gaza.

But instead of heeding the calls of the protestors, the Israeli government responded by destroying the homes in Chomesh Friday morning following the march.

Samarian activist Tzvi Sukkot called the government’s decision to destroy homes in Chomesh a “disgrace.”