JERUSALEM // The desecration yesterday of a West Bank mosque, thought to be by Jewish settlers, was condemned by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, whose pro-settlement policies are seen to have undermined Middle East peace talks.
"This is a criminal act intended as a provocation. Israel has pioneered respect of freedom of worship and will work decisively against all who harm this principle," Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.
The assailants reportedly set fire to a number of tyres laden with fuel and rolled them into the al Mughayyir village mosque, north-east of the de facto West Bank capital, Ramallah.
Village residents blamed settlers and their so-called "price tag" policy of retaliating against Palestinian communities when Israeli authorities take action against settlements.
The Hebrew graffiti tagged on the mosque - "Price Tag - Eley Ain" - raised suspicion that the attack came in response to Israel's demolition last week of the nearby settlement "outpost" of Eley Ain.
While such ragtag outposts of mobile homes and makeshift structures are not recognised under Israeli law, as opposed to other settlements, the international community considers all Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem illegal.
The West Bank's governing Palestinian Authority (PA) used the incident to highlight what they have long decried as Israel's failure to properly investigate attacks on Palestinians by suspected Jewish settlers in the past.
The incident comes amid heightened tensions with the Palestinians, whose president, Mahmoud Abbas, abandoned US-sponsored peace negotiations with Israel following Mr Netanyahu's refusal to extend a partial freeze on settlement construction.
On Sunday, as many as 23 unarmed pro-Palestinians protesters from Syria were shot and killed during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Golan Heights.
"If Israel once again makes no serious efforts to prosecute settlers, the conclusion will be clear that they are above the law, granted impunity by their own state," said a statement released by the PA media office.
It added that "Israel is forever accusing Palestinians of incitement, but does nothing to stop its citizens attacking our religious places - what is that, but incitement?"
That statement received backing by Robert Serry, the special UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, who condemned the attack and called for Israel to take "forceful action against this and other like attacks".
"The actions of Israeli extremists are highly provocative and threatening," he said.
