Israeli settlers set fire to the Hajja Hamida Mosque in the Palestinian village of Deir Istiya, near Salfit in the north of the West Bank, around dawn on Thursday, local residents told Al Jazeera.
Photographs taken at the scene showed racist, anti-Palestinian slogans sprayed on the walls of the mosque, which was damaged in the blaze. Copies of the Quran – the Islamic holy book – were also burned.
The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Endowments and Affairs condemned what it said was a “heinous crime” that highlights “the barbarity” with which Israel treats Muslim and Christian holy sites in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Separately, two Palestinian children were killed on Thursday when Israeli forces opened fire during a raid in the town of Beit Ummar, near Hebron in the southern West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported.
The violence comes amid a record-setting number of Israeli settler and military attacks on Palestinians across the West Bank so far this year, with many of the assaults taking place in the context of the 2025 olive harvest, Al Jazeera reported.
At least 167 settler attacks related to the olive harvest were reported since October 1, the United Nations’ humanitarian agency (OCHA) said in its latest update this week. More than 150 Palestinians have been injured in those assaults, while more than 5,700 trees have also been damaged.
Experts say Israeli attacks in the West Bank have increased in the shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 69,000 Palestinians in the coastal enclave since October 2023.
They also come as members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government are pushing to formally annex the area. Rights groups say Israel already maintains a system of de facto annexation and apartheid in the West Bank.
The UN human rights office warned in July that the settler violence was being carried out “with the acquiescence, support, and in some cases participation, of Israeli security forces”.