RAMALLAH, September 5, 2011 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Monday condemned setting fire to a mosque in the village of Qusra, southeast of Nablus in the northern West Bank, by a group of extremist Jewish settlers.  

Fayyad held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fully responsible for not tracking the settlers behind such ‘terrorist attacks.’

He said, “These attacks affirm Israel’s disrespect of international law,” and that “the Israeli government is responsible for those settlers who regularly commit crimes against Palestinians; if they were punished, the attacks wouldn’t be repeated.”

Fayyad insisted that the international community must take responsibility and end the Israeli occupation.

“The Israeli policy is threatening to drag the region into a cycle of violence. However, we will not be intimidated by these attempts to foil the Palestinian bid to the United Nations, and we will hold onto our right to peaceful resistance,” he said.

Fayyad announced that restoration of the mosque will start immediately.

M.H./F.J.