Unknown assailants set fire early Wednesday morning to two mosques in the villages of Jaljuliya and Mazraa al-Nobani, north of Ramallah, according to local residents. Witnesses said settlers sprayed the word "revenge" on one of the buildings in Mazraa al-Nobani. No injuries were reported, but the central mosque in Jaljuliya was burned down completely, causing heavy damage to the structure and its contents.
Residents tried to reach the site and stop the fire from spreading. At the same time, Israeli forces arrived in the villages and, according to Palestinians, fired tear gas and used crowd-control measures to disperse people at the scene.
The mosque's imam, Mohammed Abd al-Rahim, who lives in the compound with his family, told ynet that "suddenly we saw a huge fire inside the mosque." He said the attackers brought flammable materials such as tires and other items that caused the blaze to spread quickly and destroy the mosque almost entirely, adding that it may need to be rebuilt. He said the fire was "very frightening and very fast," with heavy smoke covering the area and small explosions heard as it started. "We could not believe this was happening to us, we first thought it was some other event like a war," he said.
Abd al-Rahim added that the mosque's contents were also almost completely destroyed and urged calm to prevent further escalation. "These settlers are full of hatred and they are igniting not only a mosque but also hatred and war. The world needs to see what they are doing," he said.
The Tag Meir organization said Jewish terror continues to operate almost unchecked in the West Bank, citing arson attacks on homes, mosques and cars, sheep theft, vandalism of olive trees, and attacks on Palestinians. The IDF had not issued an official response at the time of publication.
