Palestinian officials say settlers set fire to two West Bank mosques

Palestinian officials said Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques in the occupied West Bank overnight Sunday, after deadly clashes in the territory this week left six people dead.

Abdel Azim Wadi, mayor of Qusra, south of Nablus, said settlers torched a mosque under construction in the southern part of the town. He said the fire destroyed the mosque's entrance and damaged its stonework. He also said the attackers spray-painted Hebrew graffiti on the mosque's walls, including the word "revenge".

The Israeli military said troops were sent to the outskirts of Qusra after receiving a report that a mosque had been set ablaze. It said soldiers searched for suspects who had fled before they arrived and found signs of arson and graffiti at the scene. The military said Israeli police would investigate and collect evidence.

In a separate incident, the Palestinian ministry of endowments and religious affairs said Israeli settlers burned a mosque in Kour, near Tulkarem, and sprayed racist slogans on its walls.

On Friday, clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the village of Tell left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead. The Israeli military later raided Nablus and several nearby towns, announcing the arrest of dozens of Palestinians as it launched what it described as a "counter-terrorism" operation in the West Bank. On Saturday, Nablus had largely ground to a halt, with long queues of vehicles at petrol stations as fuel supplies dwindled, an AFP journalist reported.

Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has surged since the Gaza war began with Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Since the start of that war, at least 1,097 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, according to Palestinian figures. Official Israeli data show that at least 48 Israelis, including civilians and security forces members, have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or during Israeli military operations. Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank alongside more than 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.