Israeli settlers torch mosque near Ramallah, spray 'Vengeance' graffiti
Residents confronted attackers before Israeli forces deployed tear gas and stun grenades.
The attack
In the early hours of Wednesday, a group of Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the Palestinian village of Jiljilya, around 10 kilometres north of Ramallah. Video shared by activists at roughly 2:30 a.m. local time showed flames consuming the entrance and the ablution room on the lower floor, while a fire truck arrived soon after. According to Ossama Abdoullah, head of the village council, the settlers found the main door locked and instead torched the washing area beneath the prayer hall. Palestinian civil defence volunteers, aided by young men from the village, managed to extinguish the blaze.
Colonists set fire to the ablution room, damaged the village's main mosque and wrote hostile slogans on the exterior walls.
Graffiti and slogans
AFPTV footage showed scorched walls covered in Hebrew inscriptions: "Forward!", "Vengeance", "Night of the Mosques" and a reference to the radical Hilltop Youth settler movement. The slogans were consistent with a pattern of hate-motivated vandalism that Palestinian residents and rights groups say has become increasingly frequent.
Residents' response and Israeli forces
Local residents rushed to the mosque and confronted the settlers while they attempted to spread the fire, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Shortly afterwards, Israeli forces entered the village and fired tear gas and stun grenades into the crowd. The army did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.
- Settlers arrive at the mosque, set fire to the ablution room and spray graffiti
- Videos of the blaze are shared by activists; a fire truck reaches the scene
- Palestinian civil defence, aided by villagers, extinguishes the fire
- Israeli forces enter Jiljilya, deploy tear gas and stun grenades after residents confront settlers
Broader escalation
The arson is the latest in a wave of settler violence that has surged over the past three years across the occupied West Bank. On 13 May, a 16‑year‑old Palestinian was killed in a coordinated attack by settler militias and Israeli soldiers near Jiljilya, during which hundreds of livestock and tractors were stolen. Early Wednesday morning, settlers from the illegal outpost of Yitzhar also hurled stones at a Palestinian home in Burin, south of Nablus. In a separate incident, Quds News Network journalist Motassem Saqf al‑Hayt was wounded in the foot by a tear‑gas canister while covering an army raid in Deir Abu Mashaal, drawing condemnation from Reporters Without Borders.
