By Staff, Agonies

Extremist “Israeli” settlers have set fire to a mosque in the village of Deir Istiya near Nablus, in yet another act of escalating settler terrorism across the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian media reported that the arson occurred in the early hours of Thursday morning, when settlers stormed the area and sprayed racist and inflammatory graffiti on the mosque’s walls.

The graffiti included slurs against the Prophet Muhammad [PBUH] and threats such as “revenge will come to his enemies,” alongside a direct taunt to the head of the “Israel” Occupation Forces [IOF] Central Command, Avi Bluth: “We are not afraid of Avi Bluth.” Other slogans read “keep condemning” — a mockery of official condemnations following previous settler attacks.

The arson came less than 24 hours after senior settlement officials publicly distanced themselves from recent settler violence. Despite their statements, violence against Palestinians has surged, with organized settler groups carrying out near-daily attacks under the protection or indifference of “Israeli” forces.

Earlier this week, around 100 masked settlers launched a large-scale assault near Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm, setting vehicles ablaze and injuring four Palestinians. According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, the attackers burned four trucks belonging to the Al-Juneidi dairy factory and damaged the facility before retreating into the nearby Barkan industrial zone — where they also clashed with “Israeli” soldiers.

Although the incident involved dozens of settlers, “Israeli” authorities detained only three suspects for questioning, allowing the rest to flee. Even during their retreat, the extremists punctured the tires of a military jeep belonging to the deputy commander of the 101^st Paratrooper Battalion.

Avi Bluth, the Central Command chief whose name was scrawled on the Deir Istiya Mosque, admitted that the situation was spiraling out of control. “It is by miracle that we have no fatalities,” he told senior officers, describing the actions of settler gangs as “anarchist and violent.” Yet despite his remarks, Palestinians say such statements remain empty as long as the occupation continues to shield and enable settler violence.

The torching of the mosque — accompanied by blasphemous and racist slogans — adds to the growing list of “Israeli” attacks on Palestinian property, homes and places of worship. Palestinian officials and rights groups have condemned the ongoing wave of terror as part of a systematic campaign to intimidate, displace, and erase Palestinian presence across the occupied territories.