AQRABA, WEST BANK // A Palestinian mosque was set alight in a suspected arson attack in the occupied West Bank yesterday.
The name of an Israeli vigilante group called Price Tag was scribbled on an outside wall, Palestinian officials said.
The Price Tag group has carried out scores of attacks on Palestinian, Israeli Arab and church property in the West Bank and inside Israel since 2008. The group says it aims to exact a price for any opposition to settlement building.
Israeli president Reuven Rivlin condemned the incident in Aqraba, a village east of Nablus, and urged Israel’s police chief to lead an investigation. He said the case “should be treated as terrorism”.
Residents said they saw smoke coming from the building before dawn and rushed to douse the flames, which damaged a carpet and blackened one of the walls.
“If we hadn’t rushed to put out the fire the entire building could have gone up in flames,” said Maher Fares, a villager.
Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official from the Nablus area, said he suspected Jewish settlers in the area had carried out the attack.
“They broke a window and threw a firebomb into the mosque, which burnt the carpet,” Mr Daghlas said.
Mr Rivlin demanded a wider crackdown on the vandals.
“If we do not act decisively, we will all pay the ‘price tag’.”
* Reuters