NEBE ELIAS (West Bank), Feb 12: Graffiti insulting the holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was found on Sunday scrawled on a West Bank mosque, touching off a protest in which three Palestinians were shot by Israeli soldiers, and an Israeli woman was slightly injured by stones thrown at her car.

The offensive slogans heightened tensions already inflamed by Danish caricatures of Islam’s holy prophet.

Osman Zamari of the West Bank village of Nebe Elias near Qalqilya said he found the Hebrew graffiti inscribed on the mosque when he arrived for morning prayers, and saw a car with three men wearing Jewish skullcaps drive away.

Israeli soldiers erased the slogans, but hundreds of aggrieved villagers in the area, who blamed Jewish settlers nearby for the offensive graffiti, gathered to protest.

Dozens of youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers who came to break up the protest, and soldiers opened fire, hitting three Palestinians in the legs.—AP