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Mosques torched after Tal
Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including a mosque in Qusra outside Nablus, as well as scrawling buildings with graffiti that local Palestinian officials near Nablus said called for "revenge."
“They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls”
DW reported that Israeli settlers set fire to the Qusra mosque and spray-painted Hebrew slogans, and Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the village council of Qusra, said, "They set it on fire and spray-painted Hebrew slogans on its walls,".
The AP said the mosque attacks came after a spate of deadly violence that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers, and it reported that in Qusra attackers spray-painted "revenge Benayahu" on the entrance wall.
The BBC described the same sequence as tensions flaring two days after a clash near the village of Tal left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead, with both sides accusing the other of provoking the violence.
In response to the mosque arson, the Israeli military said it found graffiti and traces of arson when it inspected the area and stated, "The security forces strongly condemn incidents of this kind, including harm to religious sites".
Reactions and competing frames
Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers, which they said threaten to ignite widespread violence across the territory, according to the AP.
In the Jerusalem Post, MK Ahmad Tibi said, "When a mosque is burned, and those responsible are not arrested, that is not a 'price tag.' This is Jewish terrorism."
The BBC reported that the Israeli military said troops were sent to Qusra and that police would investigate and collect evidence after the mosque under construction was set on fire and graffiti including the word "revenge" was sprayed on its walls.
The BBC also said Netanyahu responded to the Tal clash by vowing to take "powerful action," including the possible demolition of the homes of two of the Palestinians who were allegedly involved.
In a separate framing, DW quoted Israeli military authorities saying they would "continue to act decisively to maintain security and public order in the area," after confirming graffiti and traces of arson were found during inspection.
Escalation risks and next steps
The AP reported that Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the mosque attack, closing off major roads and blocking access to a hospital where it said two militants were hiding, while Israel arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend.
“Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend”
The BBC said the IDF carried out raids and arrested dozens of Palestinians in what it called a "counter-terrorism" operation, and it linked the response to Netanyahu’s vow of "powerful action" after the Tal clash.
DW said the weekend’s violence followed clashes that left six dead on Friday, when a group of Israeli settlers descended on the Palestinian village of Tell southwest of Nablus and shots rang out, with the Israeli military saying shots were fired on both sides.
The BBC added that the West Bank has seen ever growing violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians, encouraged by far-right elements in the current Israeli government, and it described the situation as deteriorating further since the war in Gaza began after the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel.
As the cycle of attacks continued, the BBC reported that the UN says 1,114 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and that at least 35 of the deaths have involved attacks by settlers, while it also said 41 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations since the start of the Gaza war.
