ALBAWABA- Extremist Israeli settlers set fire early Thursday to the Hajja Hamida Mosque in the Palestinian village of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, in what local officials described as a deliberate act of arson.
The attack scorched one wall of the mosque, destroyed three copies of the Quran, and burned sections of carpeting, while racist Hebrew graffiti was sprayed across the exterior.
No injuries were reported, but the assault, captured in photographs showing charred holy books and slogans such as “We are not afraid” and “We will avenge again”, has ignited anger across the West Bank, already tense after a series of settler rampages this week.
Witnesses said a group of masked settlers poured accelerants at the mosque’s entrance before setting it ablaze and fleeing.
The attack came just hours after Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the army’s Central Command, condemned a separate settler rampage Tuesday in nearby Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, where arson attacks on Palestinian homes and vehicles left four injured and triggered clashes with soldiers.
In a rare public rebuke, Bluth called the settler assaults a “serious breach of conduct,” while Herzog described them as “shocking” and urged an immediate end to the “wave of violence.” The graffiti left on the Deir Istiya mosque appeared to reference Bluth’s remarks, suggesting a defiant message from extremist groups.
Palestinian officials, including Salfit’s governor, condemned the arson as a “blatant violation of religious freedom” and part of Israel’s “systematic escalation” in the occupied territories. Hamas also denounced the attack, vowing resistance to what it called “state-backed terror.”
The Deir Istiya arson is the latest in a series of attacks targeting Palestinian places of worship. The same mosque, along with others in Marda and Yasuf, was previously torched in similar incidents.
According to UN data, more than 1,860 settler assaults were recorded between October 2023 and late 2024, an average of four per day, mostly concentrated in Nablus, Ramallah, and Hebron. These attacks frequently involve arson, beatings, and land seizures targeting Palestinian farmers, Bedouin communities, and olive harvesters.
In the first half of 2025 alone, 757 settler assaults caused casualties or property damage, a 13% increase from the previous year, according to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR). More than 150 olive grove raids have been documented this harvest season.
Rights groups, including B’Tselem and UN experts, warn that these ethnically charged assaults are part of a broader campaign by ultranationalist groups, such as “Fighting for Life”, to forcibly displace Palestinians from Area C, which constitutes over 60% of the West Bank.
They accuse Israeli forces of enabling or ignoring such violence, contributing to the displacement of more than 2,900 Palestinians since 2023 and an estimated 40,000 from the Jenin–Tulkarm corridor since January 2025.
