Ramallah: Israeli colonists set fire to Al Noor Mosque in the village of Burqa in Ramallah early yesterday, making it the second mosque to be torched in the Occupied Territories in the past 24 hours.
Groups of Israeli colonists raided the mosque and set it on fire. Theyalso spray-painted graffiti reading ‘war', ‘Titzhar residents', and other provocative statements. The culprits managed to flee the scene before the village's residents were alerted.
The villagers of Burqa noticed the fire while on their way to perform the dawn prayers. The fire gutted the first and the second floors of the mosque while badly damaging other areas.
Senior Palestinian officials visited the scene to inspect the torched mosque. Dr Laila Al Ganem, Governor of Ramallah and Al Beirah, announced that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has ordered the immediate renovation of the mosque. She stressed that renovation will commence immediately after the damages are assessed.
She added that initial investigation into the arson showed that the colonists poured huge quantities of gasoline all over the mosque before setting it on fire.
‘Israel to blame'
She emphasised that the frequent attacks by colonists on Muslim holy places in Palestine are fully supported by the Israeli government which gives them the necessary protection and other help.
The Palestinian Presidency officially held the Israeli government responsible for the repeated attacks. Nabel Abu Rudaina, a senior aide to Abbas and the official spokesman for the Palestinian Presidency, condemned the arson in the strongest terms.
"The colonists' continuous attack on the Palestinian holy sites is a mere declaration of war against the Palestinian people," he said in an official statement. "The Israeli government and no other is fully responsible for those attacks," he said.
"It is time for the international community to intervene and force an end to this daily attacks against Palestinian holy sites."
Cycle of instability
Speaking to Gulf News, Mahmoud Al Habbash, Palestinian Minister of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf, said the colonists aimed to drag the region into a cycle of instability and violence.
"This arson attack is scandalous aggression," he said, stressing that the colonists should not be on the Palestinian soil on the first place. "They should leave our territories on the spot," he said.
Dr Mustafa Al Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative told Gulf News that the colonists are waging a war against the mosques in Palestine. He said this is the second attack against mosques in the past 24 hours and the third of its kind in less than a week.
Colonists had previously set fire to the Okasha and Bruqin mosques.
Fatah also warned that the Israeli government's policies based on incitement will lead to a religious conflict and violence.
