Israelis blamed for attack on mosque

Vandals believed to be extremist Israeli settlers set fire to and defaced a mosque in the West Bank village of Burqa yesterday, a day after a similar attack in Jerusalem.

Palestinian officials said arsonists used petrol to start the fire at the al-Nour mosque. Locals arriving for dawn prayers discovered the blaze.

The vandals also left behind Hebrew graffiti saying “war” and “Mizpeh Yizhar” – an unauthorised Israeli settlement outpost in the northern West Bank where the Israeli army destroyed two structures early yesterday.

It is thought that attack, like that against the Nebi Akasha mosque in Jerusalem on Tuesday, was part of the militant settler “price tag” policy, under which Arab and left-wing Jewish targets are attacked in response to perceived moves by the government to curtail the outposts.