In the early hours of Thursday, Israeli settlers set fire to the Mohammad Fayyad Mosque in the village of Duma, south of Nablus in the occupied northern West Bank, and spray-painted racist slogans on its walls in a new attack targeting Muslim places of worship in Palestinian territories.
Local sources reported that residents managed to contain the fire before it spread throughout the mosque. The damage was limited to the entrance of the building, preventing more extensive destruction.
The incident comes amid a series of recurring attacks targeting mosques and Palestinian property across the West Bank, often involving arson, vandalism, and the writing of racist graffiti. These acts are widely viewed as part of a broader campaign of intimidation against the civilian population.
Targeting places of worship constitutes a clear violation of the freedom of religion and belief guaranteed under international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects religious sites and the right to practice religion without fear or intimidation.
Attacks on religious and cultural property in occupied territories also violate international humanitarian law, particularly the Geneva Conventions, which obligate an occupying power to protect civilians and their property, including places of worship, and to prevent acts of desecration or destruction.
Such attacks are also considered assaults on the religious and cultural heritage of people living under occupation, prohibited under the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which requires safeguarding religious and cultural sites from damage or vandalism.
Observers warn that the repeated targeting of mosques in the West Bank reflects a growing pattern of violations affecting Palestinians’ religious and cultural rights, occurring within a security and legal environment that allows such abuses to continue without effective accountability.
