Settlers set fire to Mosque near Ramallah

Jewish settlers Thursday morning set fire to a mosque in Burqa village northeast of Ramallah governorate, according to witnesses. They said that settlers set fire to the third floor of the Al-Noor mosque, which is located near a settlement established on Burqa lands. The settlers scrawled slogans in Hebrew on the walls of the mosque such as “War” and “Yitzhar Settlers.” Head of the village council, Abed al-Qader Sumareen, told Voice of Palestine that the settlers set fire to the mosque at dawn and the flames damaged most of its contents. He said the settlers’ attacks against the village are escalating; in the latest attack, settlers cut down a large number of olive trees. Ramallah and Al Bireh Governor, Laila Ghannam, said this campaign launched by the extremist settlers under the protection of the Israeli army comes within the Israeli government’s settlement expansion policy, to hinder the peace process and the establishment of a Palestinian state.