Illegal Israeli settlers set fire to mosque in northern West Bank

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Illegal Israeli settlers on Friday set fire to the Bir al-Walidain Mosque in the village of Marda, northern occupied West Bank, Anadolu learned.

Witnesses said a group of illegal settlers stormed the eastern neighborhood of Marda, near the city of Salfit, and deliberately set the mosque ablaze.

Residents managed to extinguish the flames, but the fire had already caused significant damage to the mosque’s structure.

The village of Marda is adjacent to the illegal Ariel settlement and is surrounded by a barbed-wire fence.

Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank over Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

At least 822 Palestinians have since been killed and around 6,500 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.

In July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Writing by Ikram Kouachi