DaysofPal – The Hajja Hamida Mosque in the northern occupied West Bank town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit, was set on fire by Israeli settlers on Thursday morning.
Local sources reported that settlers attacked the mosque, burning parts of it and spray-painting racist slogans on its walls. Residents said they were shocked to discover the attack, noting that the settlers had poured flammable materials at the mosque’s entrance before setting it ablaze.
On Wednesday night, the Sinjil Municipality reported that settlers had launched an armed attack on the town, shooting live ammunition bursts at the local security committee in charge of resident protection. One man was injured in the foot, while heavy gunfire continued for some time.
Occupation forces later raided the area where the settlers had gathered, the same area where settlers had been attempting for months to establish a new illegal outpost.
According to Sinjil Municipality, the assault is part of a widening wave of settler violence, backed by the Israeli army, aimed at imposing a new settlement reality in the region.
During the two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, settlers have carried out over 7,154 attacks, resulting in the killing of 33 Palestinians and the displacement of 33 communities. Combined army and settler assaults have killed at least 1,070 Palestinians and injured around 10,700 others, in addition to the arrest of more than 20,500 people.
Despite the surge in settler violence against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank, Israel’s Channel 12 revealed a sharp decline in investigations into settler crimes.
The channel reported that the number of investigation files dropped from 235 in 2022 to only 60 in 2024. It added that not a single indictment was filed against any settler in the West Bank in 2024, while indictment rates in 2023 stood at less than 10% of total investigation files.
Channel 12 also documented a 69% decrease in investigations into settler shootings targeting Palestinians, a 63% drop in cases involving physical assaults, and a 62% decline in investigations into property damage committed by settlers.
This escalation in the West Bank comes amid Israel’s continued violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, reached on October 10, 2024, between Israel and Hamas.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians and injured 170,000 others, the majority of them women and children, while destroying over 90% of the Gaza Strip.
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