West Bank mosque set on fire; Israel investigates

A mosque in the occupied West Bank village of Mikhmas was set on fire and graffitied shortly after midnight on Wednesday, with Palestinian sources blaming Israeli settlers and the Israeli military saying it had opened an investigation.

Atta Kanaan, a Mikhmas resident who lives near the mosque, told AFP he heard breaking glass and found a fire burning inside the building. He said residents and firefighters helped contain the blaze before it engulfed the entire mosque.

The Israeli military told AFP that soldiers were sent to Mikhmas after a report of graffiti and arson at the mosque, as well as damage to a vehicle. It said no suspects had been identified.

AFP video showed the mosque's interior carpeting burned and the walls blackened. An AFP journalist reported Hebrew slogans spray-painted on the outside walls, including: “just because we are quiet doesn't mean we are asleep”.

Kanaan said settlers also set fire to a car and said villagers had formed night-watch patrols in recent weeks out of fear that settlers might torch homes.

Mikhmas lies in the central West Bank between Ramallah and Jerusalem, near several Israeli settlement outposts. Around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, excluding east Jerusalem, alongside more than 500,000 Israelis in settlements considered illegal under international law.