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Mosques Torched in West Bank
Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in the villages of Qusra and Kour, as officials said the attacks came during a deadly surge in settler violence.
“"The military arrived here, saw with their own eyes and then left," Mahmoud said.”
AP reported that in Qusra, Ahmed Abu Mahmoud, 64, said he heard noises at 3 a.m. and discovered the mosque had been set on fire, and he said, "The military arrived here, saw with their own eyes and then left."
DW said the mosque in Qusra was in its final stage and that "They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls," quoting Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council of Qusra outside Nablus.
The BBC said the latest attacks came two days after a clash near the village of Tal left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead, and it said the Israeli military sent troops to Qusra and that police would investigate and collect evidence.
Arrests, Graffiti, and Accusations
The AP said Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the attacks, closing off major roads and blocking access to a hospital where it said two militants were hiding, and it said Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend.
In Qusra, the BBC reported that Abdul Azim Wadi said settlers spray painted graffiti that included the word "revenge" on the walls of the mosque under construction.
Reuters-based reporting in SRN News said the attacks followed the Friday incident near Tal, and it quoted Abdel Azim Wadi telling Reuters by telephone, "The mosque was in its final stage and was ready to receive worshippers."
The BBC also reported that Netanyahu responded to the Tal incident by vowing to take "powerful action," and it said the IDF carried out raids and arrested more than 130 individuals over the weekend in a "counter-terrorism" operation.
Escalation and Political Fallout
The BBC said the violence in the West Bank has drawn international condemnation and that it has shown little or no sign of being reversed, while it also said the situation deteriorated before the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
“urged U.S. President Donald Trump to restrain “the Israeli government’s extremist ambitions””
AP reported that Leaders appeal for peace, quoting Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy urging U.S. President Donald Trump to restrain "the Israeli government’s extremist ambitions," including its implementing of a "de facto annexation in the West Bank."
DW said Palestinian authorities condemned the weekend’s events as part of "systematic pogroms across the occupied West Bank," and it said the Netanyahu government opposes Palestinian statehood and has expedited Israeli settlements in the disputed territory.
The BBC added that Israel’s prime minister said he would speed up the establishment and legalisation of farm outposts in the West Bank in response to the killing of Israelis in Tal on Friday, and it said new Israeli outposts have already appeared in the area since then.
