West Bank Mosque Torched, Fayyad Holds Israel Govt Responsible

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday said the Israeli government bore "full responsibility" for an arson attack on a mosque in the northern West Bank.

"The Israeli government bears full responsibility for these attacks against our people, property and sacred places," Fayyad said in a statement issued several hours after burning tires were rolled into the ground floor of a mosque in Qusra village, some 15 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Nablus.

The building, which was also spray-painted with Hebrew graffiti, sustained damage from fire and smoke in an attack blamed on Jewish settlers responding to the demolition of three homes in the outpost of Migron overnight.

Fayyad said he held Israel's government responsible "because it has failed in the past to hold the perpetrators of such attacks accountable."

Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said the attack was "proof of Israel's rejection of peace" and called on the international community to pressure the Jewish state over the attack and similar incidents.

A similar arson attack was carried out on a mosque in a nearby village in early June, just days after police had demolished another West Bank outpost called Alei Ayin, sparking fierce clashes with settlers.

Overnight, hundreds of police and soldiers entered Migron settlement and dismantled three structures in line with a defense ministry order backed by the Israeli Supreme Court, police said.

"Six settlers who tried to prevent the demolition were arrested after attacking the forces," spokeswoman Luba Samri told AFP.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak had ordered the three structures be taken down in June. In early August, the Supreme Court issued an identical order, although it gave the authorities until March 2012 to implement the decision.

Hardline settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy under which they attack Palestinians and their property in response to Israeli government measures against settlements.

Israel considers settlement outposts built in the West Bank without government approval to be illegal, and often sends security personnel to demolish them. They usually consist of little more than a few trailers.

The international community considers all settlements built in the occupied West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem, to be illegal.