The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates said the dawn arson attack on the Mohammad Fayadh Mosque in Douma near Nablus in the occupied West Bank’s northern part, marks a dangerous escalation in the campaign of terror carried out by illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers across the occupied West Bank, warning that the assault reflects a growing sense of impunity fueled by direct political protection from the Israeli government.
The ministry condemned the attack, in which colonizers set fire to the mosque and scrawled racist, inciting slogans on its walls, describing it as a deliberate strike on a house of worship during the holy month of Ramadan and a calculated provocation against the Palestinian people and the wider Arab and Islamic nations.
It added that the crime is not an isolated incident but a predictable outcome of the Israeli government’s policy of arming colonizer militias, shielding them from accountability, and encouraging their expansionist violence.
The ministry held the Israeli government fully and responsible for the attack and its consequences, stressing that official protection of colonizer groups has entrenched a climate in which such assaults are carried out openly and repeatedly.
The ministry called on the international community to adopt urgent and binding measures to protect the Palestinian population and safeguard Islamic and Christian holy sites across the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem.
It urged sanctions on the Israeli government, the designation of colonizer groups as terrorist organizations, and the prosecution of those responsible for attacks on religious sites, noting that these crimes form part of an organized strategy aimed at erasing Palestinian presence and targeting the nation’s religious, cultural, and historical heritage.
The attack on the Douma mosque fits into a long pattern of assaults on Palestinian religious sites.
Douma has faced repeated attacks over the years, including the 2015 arson that killed members of the Dawabsha family and several attempts to torch homes, vehicles, and agricultural structures.
The arson attack on Dawabsha family lead to the deaths of the mother, father and baby, and leaving only the 4-year-old alive, critically wounded with burns all over his body.
Similar attacks have struck mosques in al-Bireh, Aqraba, Yasuf, and other towns, where colonizers have set fire to prayer halls and left behind racist graffiti.
Churches, cemeteries, and monasteries in Jerusalem and Bethlehem have also been vandalized, often in areas under heavy Israeli military control.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that the near-total impunity enjoyed by colonizer groups encourages further violence, particularly during Ramadan, when attacks on worshippers and religious sites tend to intensify.
The ministry said the latest attack underscores the urgent need for international intervention, warning that continued silence will only embolden colonizer militias and deepen the cycle of violence targeting Palestinian communities and their sacred spaces.
