Jerusalem, May 07: Investigations have shown that a fire at a mosque in the northern Israeli-occupied Palestinian West Bank was most likely caused by arson, Israeli firefighters who investigated the incident said on Friday.
Israeli investigators initially suggested Tuesday’s fire at a mosque in the town of Lubban ash-Sharqiya could have been caused by a short-circuit, but Palestinians said it was the work of Jewish extremist settlers, which the investigation now appears to back.
Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas warned the fire threatened the peace process.
“We haven’t found any indication of a short-circuit and the fire was most likely criminal,” said Jacky Binyamin, spokesman for Israeli firefighters in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
The United Nations condemned the attack.
“There have been a number of attacks upon mosques in recent months, as well as violence against Palestinian property and individuals by extremist settlers. I condemn these attacks,” the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Robert Serry, said in a statement.
“It is vital that the Israeli government impose the rule of law and that those responsible for such crimes are brought to justice.”
“Extremists from either side must not be allowed to set the agenda and undermine the vital efforts to renew negotiations,” he said.
The attack came as Israel and the Palestinians appeared set to start US-brokered indirect talks within days. Direct negotiations, which produced no visible results, collapsed in following Israel’s war on Gaza on December 2008 just over one year after they had resumed.
“Provocative incidents threaten to weaken the current progress by the parties, supported by the international community, towards the achievement of a lasting resolution of this conflict,” the EU representatives to the Palestinian Authority and consuls generals in Jerusalem said in a joint statement.
Radical Jewish settlers have declared a “price-tag” policy, under which they have targeted Palestinians or their property in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening their illegal settlements.
On April 14, a mosque near Nablus was desecrated with Hebrew graffiti and a Star of David scrawled over the walls.
In December, settlers vandalised another mosque in the northern West Bank, torching Muslim holy books and spraying hate messages in Hebrew. The incident triggered clashes between Palestinian villagers and Israeli occupation troops.
All Jewish settlements are illegal under international law because they are built on occupied Arab (mainly Palestinian) territories.
—Agencies