West Bank mosque arson: Palestinians blame settlers

Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers tried to set fire to parts of the Nur al-Din Zanki Mosque in Bazzaryah, near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, on Tuesday.

The Palestinian ministry of religious affairs described the incident as a criminal attack. AFP photos and video from Bazzaryah showed blackened burn marks around a window of a room belonging to the mosque building and threatening Hebrew messages written on exterior walls.

Majed Nasr, who lives nearby, said settlers attacked at about 2:45 am and that a small explosion caused a fire inside the mosque building. He said residents contained the blaze before it could reach the main upper part of the building.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment. The Palestinian ministry of religious affairs said 13 mosques had been violated by the Israeli military or settlers since the start of 2026.

The Palestinian presidency warned Tuesday of what it called escalating attacks by the Israeli military and settlers against religious sites, including the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in occupied east Jerusalem.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the Palestinian territory, which are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians. Violence by Israeli settlers toward Palestinians has persisted for years, often with little or no legal consequence, and recent months have seen a surge in attacks.

Separately, Israeli police said Tuesday they had arrested eight people aged 16 to 20 on suspicion of involvement in arson attacks and assaults in southern Hebron, in the southern West Bank.