Israeli settlers set fire to mosque in al-Bireh

Israeli settlers set fire at dawn Monday to a mosque in al-Bireh City in Ramallah district and spray-painted racist graffiti on its walls.

Local sources said that the settlers sneaked into the city during the night and filled the walls of the mosque with racial slurs against Arabs and Muslims before setting parts of it on fire.

The Palestinian residents of al-Bireh rushed to the site once they smelled the fire and managed to put it out before it could reach larger parts of the mosque, which was opened in 2016.

The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs condemned this arson saying it exposes Israel’s racist and radical mentality, and accused the Israeli government of supporting settler terror groups who carry out these attacks.

Settler arson attacks on Palestinian mosques in the West Bank and Jerusalem have seen a noticeable rise in recent years. However, they are rarely investigated by Israeli occupation authorities.