Settlers set fire in mosque in West Bank

A group of radical Jewish settlers set fire in Ali Bin-Abi Taleb mosque in Deir Istiya, northern Salfeet, in West Bank, at dawn on Wednesday. The town mayor, Ayyoub Abu Hijleh, told KUNA, "A group of radical Jewish settlers set fire early Tuesday in the mosque. "A resident witnessed the incident as he went to the mosque in the early morning and he rushed to awake the town's residents who could control the fire". Neither the mosque nor its properties were damaged as the blaze was quickly put out, he added. The radicals sprayed racist graffiti against Arabs and Palestinians on the mosque walls. Abu Hijleh believed the incident was plotted and planned by the Israeli forces which stormed the village last night, imposing a curfew and prohibiting people from leaving or entering it. The mosque was targeted with a similar attack a month ago, when radical settlers wrote racist graffiti on its walls and set fire in a number of vehicles, he added. The Israeli occupation authority has built five outposts around Deir Istiya, surrounding it by Jewish settlers. Source: KUNA