JILJILIYA: A mosque in a village in the occupied West Bank was damaged in an apparent arson attack on Wednesday, with Palestinian officials accusing Israeli settlers of carrying out the incident.
According to Osama Abdullah, head of the village council in Jiljiliya, north of Ramallah, settlers allegedly set fire to part of the village’s main mosque and painted hostile slogans on its walls during the early hours of the morning.
Abdullah said the attackers attempted to target the mosque between 2am and 3am but found the main entrance locked. He claimed they then set fire to a room used for ablutions on a lower floor of the building, causing damage to parts of the mosque.
Journalists who visited the site reported visible signs of fire damage, with smoke-blackened walls, ceilings and floors. Graffiti written in Hebrew was also seen on the building’s exterior, including slogans referring to “vengeance” and the “Hilltop Youth,” a group of Israeli activists that has frequently been accused of carrying out attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
Local residents and Palestinian civil defence teams managed to extinguish the fire before it spread further, according to village officials.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the allegations.
The incident comes amid continued tensions and rising violence in the West Bank since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict in 2023. Palestinian communities have repeatedly reported attacks by Israeli settlers, including property damage, arson and assaults.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live across the territory, excluding East Jerusalem, alongside approximately three million Palestinians.
Settlements in the occupied territory are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this interpretation.
The United Nations has recently expressed concern over increasing settler-related violence in the West Bank, reporting a record number of incidents involving casualties or property damage. Palestinian residents have accused Israeli authorities of failing to adequately prevent such attacks or hold perpetrators accountable.