Israel Hunts Settlers in Mosque Fire

The Koran-burning furor appears to have arrived in the West Bank. Five Jewish settlers are alleged to have broken into a mosque in the Palestinian town of Beit Fajjar early today and set fire to it, along with prayer rugs and a large number of Korans, witnesses tell al-Jazeera. The Israeli military says it’s investigating the incident, and has found Hebrew graffiti on the walls as well.

“We see this incident in a very severe manner,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said. “We will do the utmost to find these lawbreakers and bring them to court.” Town residents were able to put out the fire before it did too much damage, but emotions are running high. “We heard residents [break] into chants about revenge,” says an al-Jazeera correspondent. “Much of the talk here is [calling this a] religious type of attack rather than a politically motivated one.” (More West Bank settlements stories.)