AhlulBayt News Agency: Israeli settlers stormed on Friday evening the “Bayt al-Sheikh” Mosque in the Khirbet Tana area, part of the town of Beit Furik east of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.
The settlers set fire to copies of the Holy Quran inside the mosque, a new crime in a series of repeated attacks targeting the mosque and surrounding area under the protection of the Israeli occupation army, according to local sources.
The Bayt al-Sheikh Mosque is one of the oldest landmarks in Khirbet Tana. According to local elders, it dates back several hundred years and was built from stone and mud. Residents have used it for daily prayers for many decades.
This crime is part of a series of ongoing attacks on the hamlet and its mosque by settlers, in what is seen as an Israeli plan to forcibly displace residents and take over the strategic location of Khirbet Tana, situated on the western slopes of the Jordan Valley.
Thaer Hannani, coordinator of the Campaign to Defend Tana, stated in press comments last March that the mosque is “a symbol of the residents’ resilience and their steadfastness on their land.” He noted that the mosque had been restored to serve as a spiritual and educational center, even functioning as a makeshift school for children after the occupation destroyed their only school and cut off electricity and infrastructure services.
Hannani added, “The repeated attacks, including burning tents and caves and threatening residents with death, reflect a systematic policy to empty the hamlet of its original inhabitants.” However, he stressed that “the people of Tana continue to refuse to leave their land despite all displacement attempts.”
The campaign to eliminate Palestinian presence in the hamlet is led by a settler named “Kobi,” a hardline figure involved in “pastoral settlement” in the West Bank. He has established an outpost on hundreds of dunams of Beit Furik’s land and has reportedly not left a single tent or cave untouched by threats.
Kobi is also responsible for destroying beehives and solar panels with the protection of Israeli occupation forces, who routinely bring in military bulldozers to demolish, level, and terrorize the Palestinian population.
It is worth noting that the Israeli occupation has demolished most structures in Khirbet Tana, including homes and tents, over the past 15 years as part of a continuous campaign aimed at enabling settlers to take full control of the area, amid international silence and the absence of any real deterrent.
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