Israeli Settlers Torch A Mosque And Scrawl Hateful Messages After Condemnation From Military Leaders

DEIR ISTIYA, West Bank (AP) — Israeli settlers set fire to and defaced a mosque in a central West Bank Palestinian village overnight, scrawling hateful messages in a show of defiance, a day after some Israeli leaders condemned a Palestinian. The settlers’ last attack against the Palestinians.

During an AP reporter’s visit on Thursday, a wall, at least three copies of the Quran and some of the carpets of the mosque in the Palestinian town of Deir Istiya were set on fire.

On one side of the mosque, settlers had left graffiti such as “We are not afraid”, “We will take revenge again” and “Continue to condemn”. The obscure Hebrew scrawl appeared to refer to Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, the military’s Central Command chief, who issued a rare condemnation of violence on Wednesday.

Soldiers of the Israeli army, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, were also present at the scene.

It was the latest in a series of attacks that have led senior officials, military leaders and the Trump administration to raise concerns.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there was “some concern that events in the West Bank could spill over and have an impact that could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza.”

Israeli officials are trying to portray settler violence as the work of a few extremists. But Palestinians and rights groups say the violence is widespread and carried out by settlers in the region with impunity for Israel’s far-right government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu did not comment on the increase in violence.

The latest accusations come in response to a brazen attack on Tuesday in which dozens of masked Israeli settlers set fire to vehicles and other property in the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf.

The army said the settlers then fled to a nearby industrial area and attacked soldiers who intervened in the violence, damaging a military vehicle. Four Israelis were arrested and four Palestinians were injured, officials said.

President Isaac Herzog called the attacks “shocking and serious.” Herzog’s stance, though largely ceremonial, is intended to serve as a moral compass and unifying force for the country.

Herzog said the violence committed by a “handful” of perpetrators had “crossed a red line” and added in his social media post that “all state authorities must act decisively to eliminate this phenomenon.”

Eyal Zamir, the Israeli army’s chief of staff, echoed Herzog’s condemnations of the violence in the West Bank, saying the army “will not tolerate the phenomenon of a minority of criminals tainting a law-abiding society.”

He said the army was determined to stop acts of violence by settlers that were contrary to Israeli values ​​and “diverted the attention of our forces from carrying out their mission.”

On Wednesday, police said three of the suspects were released. The fourth suspect, a minor arrested on suspicion of arson and assault, will remain in custody for another six days upon the judge’s instructions. Police said the actions of the three men who were released were still under investigation “with the aim of bringing criminals to justice, regardless of their background.”

Settler violence has been rising steadily for decades, and the mosque in Deir Istiya has previously been attacked by settlers.

Settlers damaged the mosque in 2012, according to the U.S. State Department, and in 2014, according to a summary of settler violence on the Anti-Defamation League website.

Violence has reached highest highs before war in Gaza It broke out two years ago and the situation has only gotten worse since then. The office said October was the month with the highest number of settler attacks recorded in the West Bank since the U.N. humanitarian office began tracking in 2006.

Palestinians say the purpose of the violence is to alienate them from their land. The UN’s humanitarian office said 3,535 Palestinians have been displaced by settler violence or access restrictions since 2023, a large increase from previous years.

Encouraged by Netanyahu’s right-wing government, settlers have breached the boundaries of pre-existing settlements to establish new agricultural outposts that they call “young settlements.”

The outposts, often little more than a few shacks and a pen for livestock, are now spreading from the tops of the settlement hills into Palestinian villages, with some settlers taking control of farmland and water supplies in the villages.

Palestinians and human rights workers accuse the Israeli army and police of failing to stop settler attacks. The Israeli government is dominated by far-right advocates of the settler movement, including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who formulated settlement policy. Cabinet minister Itamar Ben-GvirThe person who controls the country’s police force.

According to observations by the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, approximately 94% of all investigative cases opened by the Israel Police into settler violence from 2005 to 2024 were concluded without an indictment. Since 2005, only 3% of investigations into settler violence have resulted in full or partial convictions.