JERUSALEM: Illegal Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques, vehicles and agricultural land in separate attacks on Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank early on Sunday, Palestinian officials said.
The attacks took place two days after clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians near the village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead.
Israeli authorities said they were investigating the latest violence, while Palestinian officials accused illegal settlers of carrying out coordinated attacks against civilian communities.
Mosques targeted in overnight attacks
Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council in Qusra, southeast of Nablus, told Reuters that illegal Israeli settlers torched a newly completed mosque in the village during the early hours of Sunday.
He said the attackers sprayed Hebrew graffiti on the walls, including the words “Jewish revenge” and the name of one of the Israelis killed in Friday’s violence near Tal.
“The village has faced repeated attacks since 2011, and these attacks have increased since the Gaza war,” Wadi said.
Palestinian officials also reported another attack on a mosque in the nearby village of Kour, southeast of Tulkarm.
Farid Jiyousi, a member of the village council, said three illegal Israeli settlers attempted to set the mosque on fire at dawn. Worshippers managed to extinguish the flames before they spread to the main prayer hall.
“This is the first attack our village has experienced,” Jiyousi said, adding that the attackers also sprayed Hebrew graffiti on the mosque’s walls.
According to Palestinian officials, illegal Israeli settlers also vandalised vehicles, set fire to agricultural land and damaged property in the affected villages.
The Israeli military said troops dispatched to Qusra found evidence of arson and graffiti and had begun searching for suspects. It added that police investigators would collect evidence from the scene.
“The security forces strongly condemn incidents of this kind, including harm to religious sites, and will continue to act decisively to maintain security and public order in the area,” the military said in a statement.
Violence follows deadly clash
The latest violence of illegal Israeli settlers followed Friday’s confrontation around the Palestinian village of Tal, southwest of Nablus, where a crowd of illegal Israeli settlers entered the area, according to Palestinian officials.
Villagers confronted the illegal settlers, leading to a gun battle in which four Palestinians and two Israelis — including an Israeli soldier serving as a local security coordinator — were killed.
Both Palestinians and Israelis blamed each other for provoking the violence.
Following the clash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered additional troops to the area and said more illegal settlements would be authorised to strengthen security.
Hardline members of his government, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, have also called for accelerating illegal Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.
Illegal settler violence intensifies
The latest attacks add to a growing series of incidents involving extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
According to the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority, dozens of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds wounded in illegal settler-related attacks this year.
The UN says at least 1,114 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, the vast majority during Israeli military operations, while at least 35 deaths have involved illegal settler attacks.
During the same period, the UN says 41 Israelis, including civilians and security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the West Bank.
Palestinian officials said multiple villages had come under attack by illegal settlers since Friday’s violence, with reports of vehicles being vandalised, property stolen and hate graffiti painted on buildings.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military said it had carried out raids across the West Bank and arrested dozens of Palestinians as part of what it described as a “counter-terrorism” operation.
International concern over illegal settlements
Israel has built hundreds of illegal settlements housing around 700,000 Jewish settlers across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since capturing the territories in the 1967 Middle East war.
Palestinians seek the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza as part of a future independent state.
Most countries and United Nations bodies consider the settlements illegal under international law.
