Israeli settlers torch 2 mosques in West Bank: Palestinian officials

Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques in the occupied West Bank overnight on Sunday.

Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has surged since the Israeli assault on Gaza began in October 2023.

Abdel Azim Wadi, mayor of the town of Qusra, south of the city of Nablus, told AFP that settlers torched a mosque under construction in the southern part of the town.

“The fire destroyed the mosque’s entrance and even damaged its stonework,” Wadi said.

He added that the attackers spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on the mosque’s walls, including the word “revenge”.

The Israeli military said troops were dispatched to the outskirts of Qusra after receiving a report that a mosque had been set ablaze.

“The soldiers searched for suspects who had fled prior to their arrival and identified signs of arson and graffiti at the scene,” it said, adding that Israeli police would investigate and collect evidence.

In a separate incident, Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Kour, near Tulkarem, and sprayed racist slogans on its walls, according to the Palestinian ministry of endowments and religious affairs.

The ministry said that “groups of settlers burned a mosque in the village of Kour in Tulkarem governorate and wrote racist slogans on its walls”.

On Friday, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in the village of Tell, which resulted in the killing of four Palestinians and two Israelis.

The Israeli military subsequently raided the city of Nablus and several nearby towns, announcing the arrest of dozens of Palestinians as it launched what it described as a “counter-terrorism” operation in the West Bank.

On Saturday, the city had largely ground to a halt, with long queues of vehicles forming at petrol stations as fuel supplies dwindled, an AFP journalist reported.

Since the start of the Israeli assault on Gaza in 2023, at least 1,097 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, according to Palestinian figures.

Official Israeli data show that at least 48 Israelis, both civilians and members of the security forces, have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or during Israeli military operations.

Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank alongside more than 500,000 Israelis residing in settlements that are illegal under international law. ...