Israeli settlers torch two West Bank mosques, Palestinian officials say

Israeli settlers torch two West Bank mosques, Palestinian officials say Israeli settlers set fire to mosques in two villages in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, their mayors said, with AFP journalists at one site seeing scorched walls and graffiti. The incidents come during a period of increased attacks against Palestinian communities by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the start of the Gaza war in 2023. Osama Abdullah, head of the village council in Jiljiliya, north of Ramallah, told AFP that "settlers set fire to the ablution room, caused damage to the village's main mosque, and scrawled hostile slogans on the outer walls". The ceiling, walls and floors were blackened by smoke and flames. Graffiti had also been daubed on the walls in Hebrew. Some read "vengeance" and "Hi, from the Hilltop Youth".