The mosque was significantly damaged in an overnight
arson attack on 5 September 2011, which took place at approximately 3:00 am local time (
GMT+2). Two burning tyres were thrown through broken windows on the ground floor; the fire and vandalism were discovered by worshippers arriving for prayers later in the morning. Words in
Hebrew had been
graffitied on the walls, and included hateful incites against
Muhammad and threats of further attacks. A
star of David had been graffitied alongside the name of
Migron, an unauthorised Jewish settlement about to the south where Israeli police had dismantled three structures the previous day. These had been ordered by Israel's supreme court in August in response to a pleading from
Peace Now on the grounds that they were built on privately owned land. Palestinian security authorities claimed this to be the sixth mosque in two years attacked by settlers in the West Bank. Israeli police began an investigation into the incident the following day. According to the
United Nations, it is one of more than 250 incidents involving settlers in 2011 in which Palestinians were injured or their property was damaged. ==See also==