Groups of settlers, on Sunday, carried out a new attack targeting religious sites in the West Bank, where they stormed a mosque located in the area between the villages of Kisan and Al-Minya, southwest of Bethlehem. Local sources reported that the attackers set fire to copies of the Holy Quran inside the mosque, in addition to tampering with its contents, stealing carpets, and cutting electrical wiring, causing severe material damage to the prayer hall.
The settlers' violations were not limited to desecrating the mosque from the inside but extended to the agricultural lands surrounding the building, where the attackers released their flocks of sheep to graze in the citizens' fields. This step led to the destruction of vast areas of trees and crops, as part of what residents describe as a policy of economic constriction pursued by settler gangs against Palestinian farmers in those areas.
For his part, the head of Al-Minya village council, Zaid Kawazbeh, affirmed that this attack falls within an escalating wave of systematic assaults targeting villages southeast of Bethlehem to terrorize the residents. Kawazbeh explained in press statements that violating the sanctity of mosques represents a serious provocation to the feelings of Muslims, stressing that the ultimate goal of these practices is to push citizens to leave their lands and expand the settlement area at the expense of Palestinian villages.
In an attempt to justify the incident, the occupation police claimed in a statement that the targeted mosque was 'abandoned' at the time of the incident, a narrative that the residents of the area refuted entirely. Residents confirmed that the mosque is fully equipped and connected to the public electricity grid, and the five daily prayers are regularly performed there, considering that the occupation's claims aim to downplay the crime and cover up the settlers' attacks.
Despite the occupation's security agencies announcing the start of search and investigation operations for those involved in setting fire to the holy books, the Palestinian street views these measures with much skepticism. Observers believe that the absence of deterrent penalties against settlers encourages them to continue carrying out their attacks, which have recently targeted water sources, private property, and holy sites in various governorates of the West Bank.
This attack is a systematic provocative act aimed at violating the sanctity of religious sites and restricting Palestinian citizens on their land.
שתף את דעתך
Settlers set fire to Qurans and vandalize a mosque southwest of Bethlehem