- Title: WEST BANK: Palestinians say Jewish settlers burned down West Bank mosque
- Date: 5th May 2010
- Summary: LIBBAN AL-SHARQUA, WEST BANK (MAY 4, 2010) (REUTERS) ISRAELI MILITARY VEHICLES OUTSIDE MOSQUE IN VILLAGE VARIOUS OF RESIDENTS GATHERING IN AREA VIEW OF INTERIOR OF BURNT MOSQUE VARIOUS OF BURNT INTERIOR VIEW OF MAN WEEPING CLOSE OF MAN WEEPING MAN WIPING TEARS VARIOUS VIEWS OF BURNT MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MOSQUE OFFICIAL SAYING: "People woke up at night to find the mosque on fire. I didn't see it myself but they are saying it is settlers. God knows whether it's Arab or Jewish settlers. I didn't see anybody, I arrived moments ago after I woke up. They called me on my phone and told me that the structure was on fire so I came running and I've been here praying." MORE OF BURNT MOSQUE SCENES MAN WEEPING, SAYING 'GOD IS GREATEST' MORE OF INTERIOR DAMAGE VIEW OF BURNT EXTERIOR OF MOSQUE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING OUTSIDE MOSQUE EXTERIOR VIEW OF MOSQUE
- Embargoed: 20th May 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA6YYPACB18RTJNAPV02MA418R9
- Story Text: Fire damaged a mosque in a Palestinian West Bank village on Tuesday (May 4) and a mosque official blamed Jewish settlers in the latest such attack that could hamper renewed Middle East peace efforts.
"People woke up at night to find the mosque on fire. I didn't see it myself but they are saying it is settlers," a mosque official told Reuters Television.
The Israeli army said it was checking reports of the fire in the village of Libban al-Sharqia near the central West Bank city of Nablus.
Settlers who live near the Nablus area tend to be religiously motivated, claiming a biblical link to lands occupied by Israel in a 1967 war.
It was the latest of a number of similar incidents in which settlers have been blamed and comes as U.S.-mediated indirect peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are due to get under way following 18 months of stalemate.
Last month Palestinians blamed settlers for vandalising a mosque in the West Bank village of Hawara, also near Nablus, further fuelling tensions in the area. The settlers who live in hilltop enclaves have grown ever bolder, Palestinians say.
Palestinians believe Jewish settlers were behind two December arson attacks on a mosque in the village of Yasuf and acts of vandalism in a cemetery in the village of Awarta in January.
The Israeli police arrested one teenager from a Jewish settlement in connection with the Yasuf mosque attack. He was questioned and released without charge.
Some 500,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank and areas near Jerusalem annexed by Israel after the 1967 war.
Major world powers view the settlements as illegal and an obstacle to any Palestinian-Israeli peace deal.
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activities in the Nablus governorate, said the rate of settler attacks has increased in the first quarter of this year compared with 2009. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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