Israeli settlers torch, deface West Bank mosque in defiant escalation of violence

ISRAELI settlers torched and defaced a mosque in a Palestinian village in the central West Bank overnight, scribbling hateful messages in a show of defiance, a day after some Israeli leaders condemned a recent attack by settlers against Palestinians.

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One wall and at least three copies of the Quran and some of the carpeting at the mosque in the Palestinian town of Deir Istiya had been torched when an Associated Press reporter visited on Thursday. On one side of the mosque settlers had daubed graffiti, including “we are not afraid,” “we will revenge again,” and “keep on condemning.” The writing scrawled in Hebrew was difficult to make out. It appeared to reference Maj. Gen Avi Bluth, the chief of the military’s Central Command, who issued a rare denunciation of the v