Unknown vandals set fire to a mosque in the Palestinian village of Jaba near Ramallah overnight Monday, causing damage to the structure. The assailants also spray-painted graffiti over the mosque. The graffiti stated, "The war has begun," "Pay the price," and "Ulpana war."

Police suspect the arson was a "price-tag" attack in retaliation for the upcoming evacuation of illegal structures in the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El, in Judea and Samaria.

"Price-tag” attacks refer to acts of vandalism, intimidation and violence carried out against Palestinian targets by extremist settlers in the West Bank in retaliation for the government’s removal of outposts, roadblocks and other perceived anti-settler actions.

In April, the High Court of Justice ordered the evacuation of five apartment buildings in the neighborhood of Ulpana, ruling that they were built on privately owned Palestinian land. The deadline for the evacuation and demolition has been set for July 1. The state will petition the High Court of Justice on Tuesday to request a three-month postponement to the planned demolitions.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the mosque attack Tuesday, saying, "This was the work of intolerant, irresponsible lawbreakers. We will act quickly to bring them to justice."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak also condemned the attack, saying, "It is an extremely serious and criminal act that was perpetrated to disturb the day-to-day life of the region's inhabitants." He said he instructed the Israel Defense Forces "to act with all the means at their disposal to capture the perpetrators and bring them to justice."

Sheik Abdullah Siam, deputy governor of the Jerusalem district in the Palestinian Authority, spoke about the attack in an interview with Army Radio on Tuesday, saying, "All the residents are angry. I am sure Muslims around the world will hear about the event and will be angry. This is an attack on our religion and against the house of God."

In recent months, military officers have expressed concern over retaliatory actions by extremists opposing the evacuation of Ulpana.

Former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Dan Halutz told Army Radio on Tuesday that "price tag attacks are acts of Jewish terrorism."

"Price tag has a simple interpretation: Jewish terror. Although it is less violent than what we [Jews] have experienced [at the hands of others], we must thoroughly uproot it. We are not doing enough to root it out. If they wanted to, they'd capture the people and begin to file charges against them," Halutz said, hinting that he expected the government to deal more harshly with perpetrators.

Sheik Dataoon, a resident of Jaba, described the incident in an interview with Army Radio.

"In the middle of the night, at half past one, someone smashed a window, entered the mosque and burned it," Dataoon said. "Neighbors saw the fire and immediately ran to the mosque and extinguished it. I called the Israeli police and I am sorry to say it, but they did not help us at all. The soldiers came at perhaps around six, when I called the police at 1:45 a.m."

"They wrote, 'This is the beginning of the war,' and 'This is the admission you need to pay.'" This is the first time such an event has happened in Jaba. This is a pretty village and we never though Jews would do such a thing," he said.