Hawzah News Agency- According to local sources, armed settlers stormed the Hajjah Hamida Mosque between the towns of Kifl Haris and Deir Istiya in Salfit before dawn on Thursday, setting parts of it on fire and spraying racist Hebrew slogans on its walls. Residents managed to extinguish the flames, but parts of the main prayer hall were destroyed.
In a statement, Hamas said the arson “reflects the deep-rooted racism and sadism embedded in the Israeli occupation’s ideology'', accusing the far-right government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “providing political and military cover for these fascist acts''. The Movement warned that the attack forms part of an organized campaign to “Judaize the West Bank, desecrate Islamic and Christian sanctities, and erase Palestinian presence''.
Hamas stressed that “burning a house of worship and writing hate slogans on it is not an isolated act by extremist settlers, but an official policy of terror encouraged by Israeli war minister Israel Katz and his cabinet partners, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich''. It added that these figures “incite open violence against Palestinians and reward perpetrators instead of holding them accountable''.
The Movement called on Arab and Islamic nations, as well as international human rights organizations, to “take immediate and concrete measures to stop these crimes and hold the occupation accountable before international courts''. Hamas said silence on the part of the international community “emboldens Israel to continue its violations against people, land, and holy sites''.
The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, for its part, also denounced the arson as a “heinous crime and a blatant assault on Muslim worshippers and their sanctities''. It said the attack “shows the barbarity of the Israeli incitement machine and the racist mindset fueling daily settler assaults on mosques, churches, and civilian property''.
Source: The Palestinian Information Center
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