Zionist settlers set fire to mosque in Marda village in occupied West Bank

OCCUPIED PALESTINE, Dec. 20 (YPA)- Zionist settlers on Friday morning  set fire to a mosque in the village of Marda in the occupied West Bank province of Salfit, according to local sources.

Local sources told the Palestinian News Agency WAFA that a group of Israeli colonists stormed the eastern area of Marda and set ablaze the Bir al-Walidain Mosque. They also spray-painted racist slogans on its walls.

Local residents were able to control the blaze before it spread throughout the mosque, limiting the damage to its entrance. No injuries were reported in the attack.

For his part., Sheikh Othman al-Din, the Director of Awqaf in Salfit, condemned the arson attack, describing it as a criminal act targeting a sacred place of worship. He urged the local community to remain vigilant, fearing further attacks from these extremist Israeli colonists.

The Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs also condemned the attack, calling on the international community and human rights organizations to denounce such acts of aggression and hold those responsible accountable.

In a recent report documenting violations against religious sites, the Ministry highlighted the rising number of attacks by Israeli forces and settlers. In November alone, the report mentioned 20 incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as 55 instances of the Israeli military preventing the call to prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.

The report also detailed the destruction of the Al-Shayyah Mosque in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber, which had stood for 20 years. Additionally, Israeli colonists desecrated the Khirbet Marah al-Baqar Mosque in the town of Dura, south of Hebron.

In another incident, the occupation Forces damaged the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq Mosque in the Nur Shams Refugee Camp and the Martyrs Mosque in the Tulkarm refugee camp.

@E.Y.M