Israeli settlers desecrate Quran and vandalise mosque, video shows

An Israeli settler leaving a mosque in the Palestinian village of Orif, accompanied by a dog, was seen desecrating a Quran, security camera footage from Wednesday shows. 

In the video, the man is seen ripping pages out of the Quran and throwing them on the ground in front of the mosque while other masked men look on.

תיעוד מהשחתת המסגד בעוריף אתמול, ובו נראים מתנחלים משחיתים ספרי קוראן מחוץ למסגד. אתמול גם ראש הממשלה דיבר על מדינת חוק , הערב גם בן גביר דיבר על אכיפת החוק , כנראה שאכיפת החוק משתנה מאזור לאזור ולפי זהות התוקפים, לזה אין הגדרה מעבר לאפרטהייד. pic.twitter.com/KrUWFZZKGQ

— Jack khoury.جاك خوري (@KhJacki) June 22, 2023

The same masked men also set fire to a school and attempted to set fire to homes and the mosque as well, Haaretz reported. Residents told the news outlet that the settlers had entered the village from the direction of the nearby Yitzhar settlement.

The incident reportedly took place during the riots by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village of Orif on Wednesday. No arrests were made following this incident, The Jerusalem Post reported.

"The settlers' assaults continue with no effort by the army to stop them," a statement by Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organisation, said. 

“The shocking footage demonstrates that the settlers' sole purpose is to incite a riot by committing organized pogroms."

Israeli settlers rampaged through several Palestinian towns in the West Bank on Tuesday night, torching cars, setting farmland on fire, and vandalising homes, in scenes reminiscent of a pogrom earlier this year in the village of Huwwara.

On Wednesday, hundreds of settlers, many of them armed, descended on the town of Turmusaya, protected by Israeli soldiers. The settlers attacked Palestinian residents, destroyed their property, and a 27-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead.

"We condemn these violent acts and also extend our condolences to the families of those affected," said US State Department spokesperson, Vedant Patel, on Wednesday.

"Accountability and justice should be pursued with equal rigour in all cases of extremist violence."