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Mosques torched after Tal
Israeli settlers torched two mosques in the occupied West Bank early Sunday, after a deadly incident on Friday in the village of Tal southwest of Nablus left four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers dead.
“Israeli settlers set fire to two mosques in separate attacks in the occupied West Bank in the early hours of Sunday, causing significant damage and daubing them with racist graffiti”
The violence followed a clash in which villagers came out to confront a group of Israeli settlers, with video appearing to show one of the Palestinians grabbing a settler’s weapon, while the Israeli military said gunfire came from both sides.
In Qusra, southeast of Nablus, village council head Abdel Azim Wadi said settlers set fire to a newly built mosque that was nearly ready to open for worshippers, and he told Reuters the attackers spray-painted Hebrew slogans on the walls.
The BBC described the Friday confrontation as leaving four Palestinians and two Israelis dead, and said Palestinian reports described the mosque in Qusra as under construction with graffiti including the word "revenge" spray-painted on its walls.
Netanyahu orders operation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing elections in October, ordered a major security operation targeting what he described as terrorism against Israeli civilians, reinforcing troop presence in the West Bank and canceling military leave.
In response to the attacks, the Palestinian prime minister’s office said on the social media platform X that "Israeli state-backed settler terrorism is intensifying into systematic pogroms across the occupied West Bank," framing the violence as state-backed.
The Israeli military said troops sent to Qusra found graffiti and signs of arson and were searching for suspects, while police officers would be sent to collect evidence.
An Israeli military official said the violence by Israelis diverts the defense force’s attention from its primary mission of defense and counter-terrorism, but also said that over the weekend troops arrested more than 130 individuals, including weapons traffickers and Hamas terrorist operatives.
Escalation and wider impact
The attacks came amid a broader surge in settler violence that, according to U.N. and Palestinian Authority figures cited by NBC News, involved dozens of Palestinians killed and hundreds wounded in a series of clashes this year.
“2 mosques in the West Bank are set on fire during a deadly surge in settler violence 2 mosques in the West Bank are set on fire during a deadly surge in settler violence TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Two mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were set on fire overnight in an apparent Israeli settler attack, officials said Sunday, after a spate of deadly violence that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers”
The BBC reported that the Israel Defense Forces carried out raids and arrested more than 130 individuals over the weekend in what it called a "counter-terrorism" operation, and said Netanyahu responded to Tal by vowing to take "powerful action" including possible demolition of the homes of two Palestinians.
In a separate incident, Palestinian authorities said settlers tried to burn a mosque near Kour and attacked Palestinian workers at a stone-cutting facility in Kafr Malik near Ramallah, with Kour village council member Farid Jiyousi saying worshippers extinguished the flames before they reached the mosque’s main prayer area.
The AP reported that in Qusra the attackers spray-painted "revenge Benayahu," and "the land of Israel is redeemed with blood," and said Ahmed Abu Mahmoud, 64, discovered the mosque had been set on fire after hearing noises at 3 a.m.
