Groups of extremist settlers attacked the village of Duma, south of Nablus city, at dawn today, Thursday, where they set fire to the entrance of the village mosque and spray-painted racist slogans in Hebrew on its outer walls. This crime comes in the context of a systematic escalation targeting Islamic holy sites in the occupied West Bank, coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan.
Local sources reported that the villagers, with the support of civil defense crews, were able to control the fire and prevent it from spreading to the main prayer hall inside the mosque. Despite the quick response, the fire caused clear material damage to the outer gate, and the dense smoke also damaged parts of the carpets and disfigured the interior facades.
For his part, anti-settlement activist Suleiman Dawabsheh confirmed that the settlers infiltrated under the cover of darkness to carry out their assault, leaving behind drawings of the Star of David and incitement slogans. He explained that this attack is not the first of its kind, but rather falls within a series of violations aimed at intimidating residents and pushing them to leave their lands for the sake of settlement expansion.
In an official reaction, the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs warned of the danger of the increasing attempts to burn mosques, considering them part of a strategic plan to undermine the Palestinian presence. The ministry linked these field attacks to the continued closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque by the occupation authorities and the restriction of worshippers since late last February, under the pretext of a state of emergency.
On the ground, Israeli occupation forces launched a wide raid campaign in several cities in the West Bank, resulting in the arrest of at least 19 citizens, including a child and a released prisoner. These operations focused on Nablus, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, and Hebron, where they included storming homes, vandalizing their contents, and conducting field investigations with dozens of young men before releasing some of them.
In the town of Beita, south of Nablus, army forces have been continuing a wide military operation since the early morning hours, which included converting a number of residential homes into military barracks and observation points. Field sources indicated that occupation soldiers subjected entire families to harsh interrogations, in a move described by human rights activists as falling within the policy of collective punishment practiced against Palestinian villages and towns.
Official statistics indicate a sharp escalation in the pace of violence since October 2023, where settler attacks alone have led to the martyrdom of 42 Palestinians. According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the total number of victims of occupation and settler attacks in the West Bank has exceeded 1125 martyrs, while the number of arrests has reached record figures, close to 22,000 cases of arrest.
These attacks are part of a systematic plan by settlers to control Palestinian land by undermining the security and steadfastness of citizens.
שתף את דעתך
Settlers set fire to a mosque in Nablus, and the occupation launches a wide arrest campaign in the West Bank