Nablus, December 11: Jewish settlers are suspected in an attack on a West Bank mosque where fire was set to a library and hate messages were sprayed on the building, Palestinian security sources said on Friday.
Clashes erupted as village residents hurled stones at Israeli troops sent to investigate the overnight incident at the mosque in Kfar Yasuf village. The security forces responded with teargas, local officials said.
The northern West Bank area is home to some of the most hardline Israeli settlers who advocate a “price tag” policy under which they target Palestinians in retaliation for any Israeli government measure they see as threatening Jewish settlements.
One of the slogans sprayed on the wall read: “Get ready to pay the price,” Israeli public radio said. Another read: “We will burn you all.”
The Israeli military said “it appears that the suspects wrote hate-filled messages in Hebrew in addition to burning bookshelves and a carpet.”
The Israeli military assured the Palestinian Authority security services it “views the incident gravely” and that security forces are working to locate the perpetrators, the statement said.
Last week a house and three vehicles were set on fire in another village also near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The owner of the house told police he saw three Jewish settlers start the fires.
Settlers have expressed outrage over the government’s decision to impose a 10-month moratorium on new building permits for Israelis in the occupied West Bank, outside annexed Arab east Jerusalem.
Many settlers consider they have a God-given right to live in the biblical Land of Israel, which includes the West Bank.
The settlement issue is one of the thorniest in Middle East peace efforts.
—Agencies