Israeli prosecutors have filed charges against six individuals in connection with attacks on villages and a mosque perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. In a statement on Friday, Israeli police said six indictments were submitted on charges including terrorism, arson, vandalism, and rioting in the village of Deir Dibwan, motivated by nationalist ideology.
On June 14, Israeli settlers attacked two West Bank villages. According to AFP, police said their investigation revealed that masked settlers coordinated to enter Deir Dibwan together, carrying flammable materials, tear gas, and a knife. Once inside the village, they carried out a series of terrorist acts, including setting fire to vegetation and vehicles, vandalizing the local mosque, attacking homes, and throwing stones at cars and inhabited houses.
At the time of the attack, witnesses told Al Jazeera that settlers poured flammable liquid on the mosque's windows and set it alight while worshippers were inside. More than 500,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank, excluding annexed East Jerusalem, in settlements and outposts considered illegal under international law. According to the United Nations, settler attacks have surged in 2026 to about six incidents per day.
The attacks have continued despite the charges. On Friday alone, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported several settler attacks and raids on Palestinian homes and villages across the West Bank. These included attacks on a house in Al-Maniya village, the burning of a car northwest of Ramallah, and setting fire to agricultural land in Burqa village. Wafa also reported that Israeli forces and settlers raided the Al-Ras Mosque in the old city of Hebron before dawn, assaulted those inside, prevented the holding of dawn prayers, and closed the mosque to worshippers. The Palestinian Ministry of Interior and Religious Affairs condemned the raid, criticizing the raising of the Israeli flag over the mosque and the prevention of worshippers from accessing it.
The defendants include five minors and one 18-year-old, according to The Times of Israel. They were indicted at the Jerusalem District Court on racially motivated assault charges, including a series of violent acts, rioting, arson under “terrorist” circumstances, and racially motivated damage to property. Al Jazeera previously reported that Western countries including Australia, Canada, France, Norway, New Zealand, and the UK have imposed coordinated sanctions on networks that finance, facilitate, and carry out settler violence against Palestinians. However, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said settler groups and their leaders welcome these measures as a “badge of honor,” suggesting the sanctions may have little impact on curbing settlement expansion.
