Settlers accused of burning, vandalizing West Bank mosque in overnight attack

A group of settlers attacked a West Bank town overnight, setting a mosque on fire and spraying graffiti around the site, Palestinian witnesses said. Police said they had opened an investigation.

A statement from police said officers searched for perpetrators and a crime forensics team collected evidence from the scene in Tuwani, in the South Hebron Hills.

A car was torched and damage was caused to a “house of prayer” along with graffiti, police said.

There were no reports of injuries as a result of the apparent settler attack.

Pictures from the scene show a Star of David and the words “Havat Gilad” painted on a wall, referring to a northern West Bank settlement where several homes caught fire Saturday.

“An investigation into the cause of the incident… is ongoing,” the police statement read, without directly noting the arson suspicions.

BREAKING: Israeli settler terrorists attacked the Palestinian village of Tuwani in the West Bank, setting a mosque and a vehicle on fire and spray-painting a Star of David on the mosque's wall. pic.twitter.com/m1nCyx1aRk

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 18, 2026

In the same statement, police also noted that arson investigators were continuing to look into a wildfire that engulfed homes in Havat Gilad, west of Nablus, on Saturday. Several houses in the settlement caught fire and residents were evacuated from the area. There were no reports of casualties.

An initial probe had indicated that the blaze was started by a lit cigarette flicked out of the window of a car.

Police said authorities were continuing to investigate “to reach the truth and locate those involved.”

Violence in the West Bank has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.

More than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the PA health ministry. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.

During the same period, 66 civilians and Israeli security personnel have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in clashes during raids in Palestinian cities in the West Bank.

The same period has also seen a major surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The IDF recorded 867 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence in 2025. The total for 2024 was 682 incidents.

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