Israeli Settlers Torch Mosque and Homes in West Bank

Israeli colonists and military forces carried out a series of coordinated attacks across the West Bank between July 18 and July 19, 2026. In the village of Al-Tuwani, more than two dozen settlers, some masked, torched the Al-Taqwa mosque, two houses, and a women-run dairy factory, while spray-painting Hebrew graffiti on the mosque walls. Local volunteers extinguished the flames, and no casualties were reported.

Parallel attacks occurred south of Hebron in Yatta and As-Samu', where armed colonists stole sheep and targeted Palestinian homes. During these encounters, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition; while no physical injuries occurred, one child was hospitalized for severe shock and convulsions. Other violence reported across the region included assaults on residents in Beita and Burqa near Nablus and the burning of olive trees in Deir Qaddis near Ramallah.

Rawhi Fattouh, Chairman of the Palestinian National Council, characterized the violence as a policy of forced displacement. The Palestinian Ministry of Religious Affairs condemned the Al-Tuwani arson as a "full-fledged terrorist act," alleging the Israeli government encourages such violence to clear Palestinians from Masafer Yatta. The Israel Police confirmed an ongoing investigation into the damage at Al-Tuwani, while the Wall and Colonization Resistance Commission reported over 11,000 attacks by occupation forces and colonists in the first half of 2026.