PAKISTAN PERSPECTIVE

Islamabad, July 27, 2026. Pakistani press outlets, including ARY News and Dawn, report extensively on the burning of two West Bank mosques by Israeli settlers during the night of Sunday, an incident occurring days after clashes that claimed six lives. In Qusra, south of Nablus, Mayor Abdel Azim Wadi reports that settlers set fire to a mosque under construction: "the fire destroyed the mosque's entrance and damaged its masonry," he stated, noting that assailants spray-painted the word "revenge" in Hebrew on the walls. The Israeli military indicated it deployed troops that discovered signs of arson and graffiti, though no suspects were apprehended as they fled the scene. A second mosque, located in the village of Kour near Tulkarem, was also burned and covered with racist slogans, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Waqfs. Pakistani media place these incidents within the context of Friday clashes in Tel, where roughly twenty settlers from a nearby settlement confronted residents; a villager seized a settler's weapon and killed him, after which an armed response resulted in four Palestinian deaths and one additional Israeli casualty. The military subsequently entered Nablus and surrounding villages, detaining dozens of Palestinians as part of a "counter-terrorism" operation, while restricting access to funerals for the four victims, which were attended by only about thirty family members. Fifty-one residents were held for questioning, with six later released. By emphasizing these factual details and Palestinian official statements, Pakistani coverage underscores that settler violence in occupied West Bank territory has intensified since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, and highlights the religious dimension of these attacks on Muslim places of worship—a topic of particular sensitivity for Pakistani public opinion.