Palestinians say Israeli settlers torch mosque, factory in West Bank

AL-TUWANI, West Bank — Israeli settlers set fire overnight to a mosque, two homes and a dairy factory in a village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Sunday, in the latest of a series of attacks on Palestinian communities in the territory.

More than two dozen settlers, some of them masked, attacked the Al-Taqwa mosque in the village of Al-Tuwani during the night and set it ablaze, Mohammed Rabie, head of the village council, told AFP.

The attackers also torched two houses and a dairy factory and spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on the mosque's walls, he said. The settlers fled after villagers came out of their homes, and local volunteers managed to extinguish the flames before they spread further, Rabie added.

AFP photographs showed a child and an elderly man inspecting the charred entrance and windows of the mosque, where part of a prayer carpet had also been burned. The dairy factory, which is run by women from the Masafer Yatta community, suffered extensive damage, Rabie said.

"We thank God that this attack did not turn into a tragedy with loss of life," he said.

Al-Tuwani lies in the Masafer Yatta area of the South Hebron Hills, a part of the West Bank where Palestinian residents have faced repeated pressure to leave.

Palestinian activist Osama Makhamra told AFP the attack had taken place "in full view of the Israeli army," noting that a military watchtower stands close to the mosque. Rabie said Israeli army, police and fire service personnel arrived in the village about half an hour after the attack and inspected the damage.

Israeli police said they had opened an investigation. In a statement, police said officers searched for the perpetrators and a forensics team collected evidence at the scene. A car had been set alight and a "house of prayer" damaged along with graffiti, the statement said.

The Palestinian religious affairs ministry condemned the arson, describing it as "a full-fledged terrorist act" and accusing the Israeli government of encouraging settler violence in order to displace Palestinians from Masafer Yatta.

Settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has surged since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law.