A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council on Sunday denounced the desecration of a West Bank mosque by scores of Jewish settlers.
"Tens of settlers broke into the Mosque of Prophet Yunus in the town of Halhul in the south of the occupied West Bank in the early hours of Sunday and defiled it," Mariam Saleh told Anadolu Agency.
"The desecration of the mosque happened under official protection from the Israeli army," she said.
Saleh said settler attacks on mosques have become a common occurrence, adding that hundreds of settlers had desecrated Ibrahimi Mosque in the West Bank city of Al-Khalil and Joseph's Tomb in the northern West Bank in recent days.
Eyewitnesses have confirmed the desecration of the Mosque of Prophet Yunus by scores of settlers this morning.
Frequent violations of Muslim houses of worship in the occupied Palestinian territories by Israelis anger Palestinians and occasionally lead to violent confrontations.
"U.N. organizations must provide protection to the houses of worship, including churches," MP Saleh said.
She called on the Palestinian Authority to deploy guards around mosques during the nights to protect them against settlers' attacks.
By Alaa Rimawi
englishnews@aa.com.tr
