Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the West Bank early on Sunday, setting fire to two mosques and scrawling graffiti on buildings, Palestinian officials said.
The attacks followed a deadly incident on Friday in which four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed near the Palestinian village of Tal, southwest of Nablus.
During the incident, villagers came out of their homes to confront the settlers and a stand-off ensued, with video appearing to show one of the Palestinians grabbing a settler's weapon.
Palestinian local authorities say the settlers provoked the violence. The Israeli military said shots were fired by both sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major security operation against what he described as terrorism against Israeli civilians, reinforcing units in the West Bank and cancelling leave.
In an apparent reaction to the deaths of the Israelis, settlers carried out a series of attacks on Palestinian villages in different areas of the West Bank in the early hours of the morning, Palestinian officials said.
Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council in Qusra, southeast of Nablus, said settlers had torched a newly completed mosque in his village early on Sunday.
"The mosque was in its final stage and was ready to receive worshippers. It had already been furnished with couches. They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls," he said.
The Palestinian Authority, which has responsibility for the section of the West Bank where Friday's shootings took place, said the incident was part of a generalised assault on Palestinians.
"Israeli state-backed settler terrorism is intensifying into systematic pogroms across the occupied West Bank," the Palestinian Prime Minister's office said in a statement on the social media platform X.
The Israeli military said troops sent to Qusra, which sits near several large Israeli settlements, had found graffiti and signs of arson and were searching for suspects. It said police officers would be sent to collect evidence.
"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 separate incidents, Palestinian officials said settlers had also tried to burn a mosque near Kour, southeast of the city of Tulkarm, and attacked Palestinian workers at a stone-cutting facility in the town of Kafr Malik, near Ramallah.
Farid Jiyousi, a member of the Kour village council, said three settlers had tried to set the mosque ablaze at dawn but worshippers had put out the fire before it reached the main area of the mosque.
"This is the first attack our village has experienced," he said, adding that the attackers had also sprayed graffiti in Hebrew on the mosque walls.
As part of a security clampdown across the West Bank over the weekend, Israeli forces arrested around 60 Palestinians from Saturday night, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, which tracks Palestinians in Israeli custody.
On Sunday, Pope Leo said he was following the worsening violence with deep concern and called for negotiations to reach "a just political solution". He also called for a rejection of actions "that violate the respect and status quo of the holy sites of every religious faith".
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source wh...
Central Asia’s economy has surpassed $543 billion, driven by Kazakhstan’s economic weight, strong exports and foreign investment, while growing tr...
The United Nations refugee agency is planning a settlement and carpet-weaving workshop for Afghan returnees in Kabul as the country grapples with larg...
Iran and the United States remain at loggerheads over efforts to agree a permanent end to the war in the Gulf, according to a senior Iranian source who said there had been no progress in talks to revive the interim deal agreed in June and define a timeframe to implement it.
U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Iran to pay compensation for decades of deaths and damage, adding a new demand to peace talks as Tehran seeks compensation and sanctions relief before reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
Disruption in the Strait of Hormuz has increased the strategic importance of Bab al-Mandab, raising fears that instability in both waterways could trigger a wider global energy and trade crisis.
A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
Millions of people across Spain and Iceland are preparing on Wednesday to witness a rare total solar eclipse, when the moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun, briefly turning daylight into darkness along a narrow path.
Central Asia’s economy has surpassed $543 billion, driven by Kazakhstan’s economic weight, strong exports and foreign investment, while growing trade across Asia points to an increasingly connected region.
The United Nations refugee agency is planning a settlement and carpet-weaving workshop for Afghan returnees in Kabul as the country grapples with large-scale returns and growing pressure on housing, jobs and basic services.
Iran will soon join the New Development Bank (NDB), the lender established by BRICS nations, Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said in a state media report on Wednesday ahead of a BRICS finance meeting in India.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev has outlined an expanded vision for the Zangezur Corridor, describing it not simply as a transport route connecting mainland Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan exclave, but as a future platform for energy, telecommunications and wider regional integration.
Iran and Russia are seeking closer cooperation on arms control and Iran’s nuclear programme as the two countries deepen strategic ties amid heightened tensions with the U.S. and Israel.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment