The Muslim holy book was stolen and its pages torn by masked Israeli extremist settlers who broke into a mosque in the occupied West Bank, according to CCTV footage. They then threw the Holy Quran into the street.
Security camera footage from the scene shows an Israeli settler defiling the Holy Quran in front of the mosque in the Palestinian village of Urif, which is situated 13 kilometers (8 miles) south of Nablus, while other masked men watch. The settler is accompanied by a dog.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the same masked men later set fire to several classrooms in a nearby school and made attempts to start fires in residences and a mosque.
According to reports, the incident took place on Wednesday during riots by Israeli settlers in the West Bank village. The incident, according to Israeli media, did not result in any arrests.
Israeli human rights group Yesh Din released a statement in which it claimed that the army had not attempted to stop the settlers’ assaults.
“The shocking footage demonstrates that the settlers’ only goal is to spark a riot by engaging in planned pogroms,” it continued.
In scenes reminiscent of a pogrom earlier this year in the village of Huwwara, Israeli settlers rampaged through several Palestinian towns in the West Bank on Tuesday night, torching cars, setting farmland on fire, and vandalizing homes.
Palestine issues a “religious war” warning.
Hatem al-Bakri, the Palestinian minister of endowments and religious affairs, has cautioned against an increase in attacks on mosques throughout the West Bank by Israeli military forces and zealous Jewish settlers.
Bakri denounced the Quran’s desecration in Urif in a statement on Thursday.
This act is egregious and unacceptable. By enabling radical gangs to conduct attacks and engage in their heinous acts, which are condemned by all religions, it contributes to the methodology and ideology of the right-wing Israeli government, he said.
Bakri emphasized that the attack on the al-Ribat Mosque in Urif village is the second of its kind in the last few days, saying, “We must assume full responsibility and stop these gangs from attacking our mosques and sanctuaries.”
He urged the Palestinian people to defend and protect mosques and urged international organizations to carry out their duties.
In addition, Bakri cautioned against the potential risks of escalating hostilities in the occupied territories, saying that the current situation could lead to “a religious war with unthinkable consequences.”
On Wednesday, hundreds of armed settlers entered the town of Turmusaya under the protection of Israeli soldiers. A Palestinian man, aged 27, was shot dead by the settlers after they attacked and vandalized their property.
The riots started the day after two Palestinian resistance fighters opened fire at a gas station outside of the illegal settlement of Eli in the occupied West Bank, killing four Israeli settlers and injuring another four.
According to the Israeli military, one of the gunmen was killed immediately, and Israeli forces later shot and killed the second suspect near Nablus after he fled in a taxi.
The two Palestinians, both 24 years old and from the village of Urif near Nablus, were identified as Mohannad Faleh Shhadeh, 26, and Khaled Mostafa Sbah.
The shooting happened the day after an extensive Israeli military incursion in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp resulted in at least six Palestinian deaths. During the nine-hour raid, at least 91 individuals were hurt.
In the course of the conflict, Israel used helicopter gunships in the West Bank for the first time in decades, and Palestinian fighters detonated a sizable roadside bomb beneath an Israeli armored vehicle.
