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The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that dozens of Israeli settlers entered the village of Mikhmas north of Jerusalem during the night and set fires at a mosque an olive tree and a vehicle. Journalists who visited the site observed Hebrew graffiti on the mosque walls and nearby buildings including phrases such as “Regards from Susya” “Evacuation equals Messy” and “The fact that we are quiet doesn’t mean that we’re sleeping we haven’t gone anywhere.” The Palestine News Network claimed the group also chased a shepherd in an attempt to steal sheep and took olives from nearby groves although those specific allegations remain unconfirmed by other outlets.
A resident living 50 meters from the mosque told AFP that he heard breaking glass shortly after midnight and rushed to the building where he found a fierce blaze. “A fire was burning fiercely and we called the fire brigade,” Atta Kanaan said. “Young men rushed to help us with fire extinguishers and we managed to contain part of the fire before the flames engulfed the entire mosque.” Kanaan noted that villagers had recently formed night-watch patrols out of concern that settlers from nearby outposts might target homes on the outskirts.
The Israeli military told AFP that soldiers were dispatched to Mikhmas following reports of the arson and graffiti as well as damage to a vehicle. “No suspects were identified,” the military said in a statement. An investigation has been opened into the incident according to the military which confirmed it was examining the matter without providing further details on possible perpetrators.
Al Jazeera reported that settlers attacked a Palestinian boy in a separate incident in the town of Beita south of Nablus on the same day. Israeli forces arrested three Palestinians during a raid in Qalqilya and fired tear gas in the village of Tammun according to the Palestinian news outlet Quds News Network. These events took place while the olive harvest is under way across the West Bank a season when Palestinian farmers rely on the crop as a key source of revenue.
According to dpa international the situation in the occupied West Bank has escalated since the October 7 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing Gaza war. The Palestinian Health Ministry figures show more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the territory in Israeli military operations armed clashes or their own attacks during that period. dpa noted that violence by radical Israeli settlers against Palestinians has increased sharply at the same time with the Israeli military repeatedly accused of insufficient action against the perpetrators.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused the Israeli government of facilitating settler violence in a push to expand Israeli control of Palestinian land according to an Al Jazeera assessment. International monitors have tracked hundreds of such incidents in recent years many of them tied to efforts to intimidate farmers during harvest periods. Palestinian officials have condemned the Mikhmas attack and appealed for international measures to protect residents in the area.
Rouhi Fattouh president of the Palestinian National Council described the arson as a barbaric act and a dangerous escalation in settler terrorism. He issued the statement in response to the damage that blackened the mosque walls and burned its interior carpeting. Mikhmas lies in the central West Bank between Ramallah and Jerusalem near several Israeli settlement outposts whose residents have carried out previous attacks on the community in recent months.
