Jewish Settlers Burn Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in Nablus
A mosque was set ablaze and defaced with threatening graffiti on Monday morning in the village of Tell, south of Nablus in the northern West Bank. The attack by extremist Israeli settlers came just days after they also vandalised a Christian church in the West Bank.
Footage published by Palestinian media showed the charred entrance of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque, with the Hebrew words “revenge” and “price tag” spray-painted in black on its outer walls.
Palestinian news outlet Ma’an reported that the fire broke out at the mosque’s entrance, damaging the gate and exterior before local residents extinguished the flames.
Extremist settlers frequently describe violence against Palestinians as the “price” for Palestinian attacks and the dismantling of settler outposts by Israeli forces.
In a statement, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Endowments said “the attempt to burn the mosque clearly demonstrates the barbarism carried out by Israel’s racist incitement machine against Muslim and Christian holy sites in Palestine.”
According to the ministry, settlers attacked 45 mosques in the West Bank last year. The figure could not be immediately verified.
The attack on the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque, coming just days into the holy month of Ramadan, followed the discovery on Thursday of Jewish nationalist messages including “revenge” on the walls of the Church of the Visitation, a prominent Christian holy site in Jerusalem.
Settler attacks in the West Bank have escalated since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, which Israel responded to with what has been described as a genocidal reprisal over the past two years. On Wednesday, a 19-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed during a settler attack in the village of Mukhmas in the central West Bank.
The Israeli military said troops and police officers were dispatched to the village following “reports and documentation received retrospectively regarding suspects who set fire to a mosque and sprayed graffiti.” “Forces began searching for the suspects, and the incident is being investigated by security authorities,” the IDF said.
However, settler attacks, which occur on a near-daily basis, have largely gone unpunished. Prosecutions of Jewish extremists are rare, and convictions rarer still. Critics accuse the government, described as the most hardline in Israel’s history, of turning a blind eye to such attacks.
Data published by the IDF and Shin Bet security agency last month showed a 27 per cent increase in settler attacks in 2025 compared to the previous year.
In addition to the overall rise in settler attacks, 2025 also saw an increase in the number of severe incidents, including shootings, arson, and other violent crimes. A total of 128 such incidents occurred last year, compared with 83 in 2024 and 54 in 2023.