• Hebrew graffiti daubed on burned walls; pope, Bethlehem pastor slam attacks on villages, holy sites
• Palestinian PM says Israeli state-backed settler terrorism intensifying into systematic pogroms across occupied West Bank
• Israeli attack in Gaza kills senior security officials

QUSRA: Violent Israeli settlers launched a series of coordinated attacks on Pales­tinian villages across the illegally occupied West Bank on Sunday, torching two mos­ques and vandalising buildings in the latest escalation of “state-backed aggression aga­i­nst the Palestinian people”.

The assaults followed a dea­dly confrontation on Fri­day when an armed mob of Israeli settlers, accompanied by occ­u­p­ation soldiers acting as security coordinators, app­roa­c­hed the Pales­tinian village of Tal, southwest of Nablus.

Palestinian local authorities confirm the settlers provoked the viole­nce, which left four Palest­inians and two Israeli soldiers dead.

In response, Israeli Prime Min­i­­ster Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a massive military crackdown. He also reinforced occupation units acr­oss the West Bank and cancelled leave.

Key members of his cabinet, including far-right Fina­nce Minister Bezalel Smot­rich, have openly called for the complete annexation of the West Bank, territory Israel illegally captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Settlers also terrorised several Palestinian communities. In Qusra, southeast of Nablus, settlers targeted a newly completed mosque.

“The mosque was in its final stage and was ready to receive worshippers. It had already been furnished with couches,” Abdel Azim Wadi, head of the Qusra village council, said. “They set it on fire and spray-painted Heb­rew slogans on its walls.”

Among the graffiti were messages including “Jewish revenge” and the name of one of the Israelis killed near Tal.

The Palestinian Autho­rity condemned the assa­ults as part of a broader, systemic campaign against Palestinians.

“Israeli state-backed settler terrorism is intensifying into systematic pogroms across the occupied West Bank,” the Palestinian prime minister’s office said.

Occupation forces intensified their crackdown on Palestinians, arresting approximately 60 people across the West Bank over the weekend, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club.

In separate attacks, Pale­s­­tinian officials reported that settlers attempted to burn a mosque near Kour and violently assaulted Palestinian workers at a stone-cutting facility in Kafr Malik. Farid Jiyousi, a Kour village council member, said worshippers extinguished the dawn fire before it consumed the mosque, though attackers still desecrated the walls with Hebrew graffiti.

Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike on Sunday assassinated Colonel Wael El-Ledawi, a senior officer of the Hamas-run Palest­inian internal security service, and Major Ramez Abu Zraiq in Deir al-Balah, medics said.

Settler terrorism slammed

Rev Munther Isaac, pastor of Christmas Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, condemned the unchecked settler terrorism, noting the profound toll it takes on defenceless Palestinians.

Pope Leo also expressed deep concern over the worsening violence, calling for a rejection of actions “that vio­l­ate the respect and status quo of the holy sites of ev­e­ry religious faith”.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2026