WEST BANK: A mosque in the occupied West Bank village of Al-Tuwani was set on fire overnight in an alleged attack by Israeli settlers, according to Palestinian officials, while Israeli police confirmed an investigation into vandalism and arson at the site.
Speaking to AFP, Mohammad Rabie, head of the village council, said that more than two dozen settlers, some of them masked, entered the village during the night and set fire to the Al-Taqwa Mosque. He said the attackers also torched two homes and a dairy factory and spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on the mosque’s walls.
Residents rushed from their homes after noticing the attack, prompting the assailants to flee. Local volunteers managed to extinguish the flames before the fire spread further, preventing what residents described as a potentially much larger tragedy.
Photographs from the scene showed the mosque’s entrance door and windows badly charred, with sections of the prayer hall also damaged by fire.
Rabie said the dairy factory, operated by women from the Masafer Yatta community, suffered extensive damage.
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“We thank God that this attack did not turn into a tragedy with loss of life,” Rabie said.
Israeli police confirmed that officers were dispatched to the village overnight after receiving reports of suspected arson involving a vehicle, damage to a place of worship, and graffiti painted on walls. Authorities said an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident is ongoing.
Palestinian activist Osama al-Makhamreh alleged that the settlers carried out the attack under the observation of Israeli forces, noting that an Israeli military watchtower is located near the mosque. Rabie, however, said Israeli soldiers, police officers, and firefighters arrived approximately 30 minutes after the attack to inspect the damage.
The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs strongly condemned the incident, describing it as “a full-fledged terrorist act.” The ministry accused Israel’s government of encouraging settler violence and said such attacks are aimed at displacing Palestinians from Masafer Yatta while fueling religious tensions in the region.
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The latest incident comes amid growing international concern over rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank. According to a recent report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), attacks by Israeli settlers have reached unprecedented levels, averaging six incidents per day involving casualties or property damage.
