Jerusalem: The Palestinian minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, Hatem Al-Bakri, said that 15 mosques have been attacked by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers, since the beginning of 2022, in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, the Wafa News Agency reported.
Al-Bakri explained in a press statement today, Thursday, that “these violations come in light of an occupation policy aimed at allowing settlers to work without any controls or restrictions, even with regard to religious sites and mosques.”
In 2021, the Public Relations and Media in the Ministry of Awqaf documented the attack on more than 10 mosques in the West Bank, in addition to dozens as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
More than 2,00,000 Palestinians live in the city, along with several hundred extremist Israeli settlers who live in the city centre in heavily fortified enclaves protected by the army.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and established dozens of illegal settlements where nearly 500,000 settlers live.
Palestinians want West Bank as part of their future state and see the illegal settlements as a major obstacle to resolving the conflict.
