This happened after deadly clashes in the territory this week, which killed six people.
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Violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has intensified since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Abdel Azim Wadi, mayor of Kusra, a town south of Nablus, told AFP that settlers set fire to a mosque under construction in the southern part of the town.
“The fire destroyed the entrance to the mosque and even damaged its masonry,” A. A. Wadi said.
He added that the attackers left Hebrew inscriptions, including the word “revenge,” on the mosque walls with spray paint.
The Israeli army reported that soldiers were dispatched to the outskirts of Kusra after receiving a report of a mosque being set on fire.
“Soldiers searched for suspects who had fled before their arrival and found traces of arson and graffiti at the scene,” the army stated, adding that Israeli police would conduct an investigation and collect evidence.
In a separate incident, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Kour, near Tulkarm, and sprayed racist slogans on its walls.
The ministry stated that “groups of settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Kour, Tulkarm Governorate, and wrote racist slogans on its walls.”
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On Friday, deadly clashes erupted between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the village of Tell, killing four Palestinians and two Israelis.
The Israeli army later raided the city of Nablus and several surrounding towns, announcing the arrest of dozens of Palestinians as it launched what it called a “counter-terrorism” operation in the West Bank.
On Saturday, the city was almost at a standstill, with long queues of cars at petrol stations as fuel supplies dwindled, an AFP journalist reported.
According to Palestinian data, at least 1,097 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Official Israeli data shows that at least 48 Israelis – both civilians and security forces members – have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations.
Excluding annexed East Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to approximately 3 million Palestinians and over 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
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