A mosque in al-Bireh, a central West Bank town near Ramallah, was set on fire on Monday morning, in what locals have dubbed a hate crime.
Local residents who noticed the blaze rushed over to the mosque and were reportedly able to extinguish the flames before they damaged the main prayer hall.
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Graffiti reading, "Siege on Arabs, not Jews" and "Land of Israel" was found on walls of the vandalized site.
Eyewitnesses told the police that they saw several settlers scrawl the graffiti before torching the mosque and fleeing the scene.
The Israel Police have launched an investigation into the incident but have no suspects in custody at this time, a police source said.
Economy Minister Amir Peretz condemned the incident.
"The perpetrators must be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law," he said. "The people who set fire to a mosque are trying to ignite the entire area. The virus of hate, much like the coronavirus is a common enemy to all religious and just as all of us are fighting the pandemic together, we must come together to eradicate hate."
The Tag Meir group, which battles hate crimes, issued a statement saying, "The torching of the mosque in al-Bireh in another in a long line of similar arson incidents.
"Since 2009, 60 mosques, churches and monasteries have been torched and vandalized in Israel and in Judea and Samaria. Jewish terror operatives continue to wreak havoc and destruction in their wake."
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