Israeli settlers torched a mosque and sprayed it with graffiti in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to Palestinian authorities, the latest in a surge of increasingly brazen settler attacks against Palestinians.
The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs said settlers attacked the Hajjah Hamidah Mosque in Salfit in the northern West Bank, calling it a “heinous crime and a blatant assault on the feelings of Muslims.”
“The attack resulted in parts of the mosque being set on fire and defaced with racist graffiti by settler gangs, who carry out daily assaults on Islamic holy sites and citizens’ properties amid a systematic escalation in both the frequency and nature of these violations,” the ministry statement said.
Images shared by the ministry showed writing in Hebrew on the exterior of the mosque saying, “Mohammed is a pig,” a reference to Islam’s prophet, and “Not afraid of Avi Bluth.” Bluth is the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commander in the West Bank, who issued a statement on Wednesday condemning the settler attacks and calling the perpetrators an “anarchist fringe youth.”
Images showed parts of the interior damaged by fire, with a pile of charred debris scattered across the ground. The walls appear blackened with smoke and heat marks, and the glass of the windows smashed.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the attack in a statement, saying it “holds the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for this crime and its consequences.”
Credit: cnn.com
