Israeli settlers accused of arson on West Bank mosque and nearby properties

More than two dozen masked settlers reportedly entered the West Bank village of Al-Tuwani during the night and set fire to the Al-Taqwa mosque, two houses and a dairy factory run by women from the nearby Masafer Yatta community, a village council head said. The arson caused damage to the mosque’s entrance, windows and a prayer carpet, and Hebrew graffiti was sprayed on its walls. Local volunteers managed to extinguish the flames before they spread further, and no fatalities were reported.

"We thank God that this attack did not turn into a tragedy with loss of life," Mohammed Rabie, head of the village council, told AFP.

Israeli police deployed officers to the site after receiving reports of the damage, including a vehicle that was set on fire, and said an investigation was ongoing. According to the council head, army, police and fire service personnel arrived about half an hour after the attack and inspected the damage.

Palestinian activist Osama Makhamra said the attack occurred in view of an Israeli military watchtower near the mosque. The Palestinian religious affairs ministry condemned the incident, describing it as a terrorist act and accusing the Israeli government of encouraging settler violence.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has warned that settler violence in the occupied West Bank has reached unprecedented levels, averaging six attacks per day that result in casualties or property damage. The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since 1967, with around three million Palestinians living alongside more than 500,000 Israeli settlers in settlements deemed illegal under international law.