The marks of the attack on Hamida Mosque, near Deir Istiya in the occupied West Bank, are still scattered on the ground outside. Charred furniture, lecterns, and smoky curls of carpet are piled around the entrance - its guts emptied, and debris cleared, in time for Friday prayers.
Dozens of men arrived for the prayers in a show of defiance - their backs turned towards the scorched and blackened wall. The imam here, Ahmad Salman, told the BBC the attack on Thursday was a message from Jewish settlers, amid a wave of settler violence across the West Bank.
The message they want to send is that they can reach anywhere - into cities, into villages, that they can kill civilians and burn houses and mosques, he said. I feel it in my soul. It's not right to touch places of prayer, wherever they are.
Spiralling settler attacks here over the past six weeks have triggered tough warnings from army leaders, along with a handful of arrests and investigations. But hardline expansionist settlers enjoy government support, which some believe is pushing the West Bank towards a dangerous confrontation.
The annual olive harvest, when Palestinians try to access their farmland, often marks a spike in violence, but this year's attacks have broken UN records. The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs registered more than 260 settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or damage to property in October alone - the highest monthly count since they began monitoring in 2006.
Human rights groups say that settler aggression towards Palestinians has risen since the Gaza War began in 2023 after the 7 October Hamas attacks. More than 3,200 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by settler violence and restrictions since then.
The decision of military leaders to order action on settler violence will test discipline in an army where settlers make up a growing proportion of troops. It also risks exposing dangerous divisions between Israel's military and political leaders. Extremist settlers claim their right to the land is biblical, while recent government actions, including distributing weapons to civilian security squads, have further escalated tensions in the region.
As worshippers left the Hamida Mosque after Friday prayers, Israeli activists arrived on a visit to show solidarity. Martin Goldberg, originally from London, remarked on the severity of the situation; These attacks are not minor, they're extremely major. Everyone's trying to belittle it, but it's not. And they're being supported by the government.\
Dozens of men arrived for the prayers in a show of defiance - their backs turned towards the scorched and blackened wall. The imam here, Ahmad Salman, told the BBC the attack on Thursday was a message from Jewish settlers, amid a wave of settler violence across the West Bank.
The message they want to send is that they can reach anywhere - into cities, into villages, that they can kill civilians and burn houses and mosques, he said. I feel it in my soul. It's not right to touch places of prayer, wherever they are.
Spiralling settler attacks here over the past six weeks have triggered tough warnings from army leaders, along with a handful of arrests and investigations. But hardline expansionist settlers enjoy government support, which some believe is pushing the West Bank towards a dangerous confrontation.
The annual olive harvest, when Palestinians try to access their farmland, often marks a spike in violence, but this year's attacks have broken UN records. The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs registered more than 260 settler attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or damage to property in October alone - the highest monthly count since they began monitoring in 2006.
Human rights groups say that settler aggression towards Palestinians has risen since the Gaza War began in 2023 after the 7 October Hamas attacks. More than 3,200 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by settler violence and restrictions since then.
The decision of military leaders to order action on settler violence will test discipline in an army where settlers make up a growing proportion of troops. It also risks exposing dangerous divisions between Israel's military and political leaders. Extremist settlers claim their right to the land is biblical, while recent government actions, including distributing weapons to civilian security squads, have further escalated tensions in the region.
As worshippers left the Hamida Mosque after Friday prayers, Israeli activists arrived on a visit to show solidarity. Martin Goldberg, originally from London, remarked on the severity of the situation; These attacks are not minor, they're extremely major. Everyone's trying to belittle it, but it's not. And they're being supported by the government.\
