Israeli Illegal Settlers Burn Several Mosques in the West Bank
JAKARTA - Israeli illegal settlers burned mosques in two villages in the West Bank on Wednesday, June 17 local time.
This incident occurred amid an increase in attacks on Palestinians carried out by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in 2023.
The head of the village council in Jiljiliya, north of Ramallah, Osama Abdullah, said that "settlers burned the place of prayer, causing damage to the main mosque of the village, and wrote slogans of hostility on the outer walls."
AFP journalists who visited the mosque affected on Wednesday, June 17, reported that the ceiling, walls, and floors were blackened by smoke and fire.
The Israeli illegal settlers also made graffiti in Hebrew in the area of the walls of the mosques, among which was written "revenge" and "hello from the Youth of the Peak of the Hill".
Hilltop Youth is a group of Israeli residents in the West Bank who often commit violence against Palestinians. They intend to expel Palestinians from the areas they want to seize.
Abdullah added that the settlers arrived to burn the mosque between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. but found the door locked, so they instead burned the room for wudhu on the lower floor.
He said the Palestinian civil defense team, along with youth from the village and surrounding areas, carried out an evacuation to put out the fire.
Another head of the village council, Saad Dagher, said settlers burned another mosque in Mazari an-Nubani last night.
Dagher said the Israeli settlers burned down one of the three mosques in the village at around 3am using molotov cocktails, before fleeing, while residents put out the fire.
The Israeli military later confirmed the burning and graffiti vandalism in mosques in the West Bank. However, they were reluctant to elaborate.
"The troops searched the area to search for suspects and found two mosques on fire, as well as graffiti on the walls. The suspects had fled before the arrival of the troops," said the Israeli military.