‘He wanted to burn me alive’: 92-year-old recounts West Bank settler attack

Settlers target mosques and homes amid escalating attacks in the occupied West Bank, increasing fear among Palestinians.Sadeq Faqih, 41, stands with his wife Abeer and their daughters outside their home in Beit Imrin, which was targeted in a settler attack [Courtesy of the Faqih family]Published On 17 Jun 2026After completing Maghrib prayer, Yasser Saqer Rashid sat down in one corner of the al-Marah mosque in the occupied West Bank and started reading the Quran. But moments later, a commotion outside the mosque drew his attention.Israeli settlers were storming the courtyard of the mosque located in the town of Deir Dibwan near Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Palestine weekly wrap: World sanctions settlers, Israel funds settlementslist 2 of 4Israel seizes power over occupied West Bank mosque from Palestinianslist 3 of 4Inside the ‘unacceptable’ UK fair selling property in Israeli settlementslist 4 of 4Israel takes control of Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque: What this meansend of listRashid said that a settler poured an incendiary substance on the window of the mosque to start a fire. “He wanted to burn me alive,” the 92-year-old Palestinian American told Al Jazeera.“I was shocked by a settler holding a petrol bomb, pointing it at my face and clothes near the window,” he said.While the full extent of the June 14 structural damage to the al-Marah mosque remains unclear, surveillance footage documented masked settlers breaking into the mosque’s inner rooms, before stepping outside to torch six vehicles belonging to local residents.In the neighbouring town of Burqa, another mosque, al-Noor, was targeted by an arson attack shortly afterwards, amid escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Attackers ignited tyres and flammable materials at the doors in an attempt to burn the building down.Settler attacks have exploded during Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed more than 73,000 people since October 7, 2023. This Tuesday, on June 16, in response to one of the latest incidents, the Palestinian group Hamas condemned illegal Israeli settlers for setting fire to a mosque in the village of Jiljilya near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.In many cases, settlers are accompanied by Israeli forces. At least 13 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank so far this year, according to United Nations data.Far-right Israeli ministers such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich have openly backed settlers and called for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the occupied territories.“We are steadfast here and will not leave,” said Adel Maatan, the muezzin of the Burqa mosque, who was reciting the Quran during the attack. “This is our land, inherited from our ancestors, and we will remain in it until the Day of Judgement.”Yasser Saqer Rashid, a 92-year-old Palestinian American, displays a photo on his phone following a settler arson attack inside a mosque in Deir Dibwan [Al Jazeera]Targeting places of worshipThe recent arson attacks on mosques are not isolated incidents, but part of a documented pattern of targeting Palestinian religious sites, observers say. According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israeli forces and settlers carried out 22 separate attacks on Muslim religious sites during May 2026 alone. The majority of these occurred in the Hebron governorate, which saw 14 attacks, followed by Nablus, Jenin, Jericho and Ramallah.In eastern Ramallah, dozens of mosques and homes have been targeted by settlers using flammable materials and arson in highly coordinated attacks aimed at driving Palestinian families from their land.Despite holding US citizenship, Rashid found his passport offered no protection against the attacks. He issued a direct appeal to Washington, demanding protection for Palestinian Americans who remain vulnerable to escalating settler violence in the West Bank.Mansour Mansour, the mayor of Deir Dibwan, said that the assailants meticulously distributed roles. While one group targeted the mosque and the elderly man, another attacked nearby homes, and a third group set fire to six vehicles and agricultural crops before withdrawing.A dream home turned prisonFurther north, in the village of Beit Imrin near Nablus, Sadeq Faqih’s dream home has been transformed into a fortress. Faqih, a 41-year-old fabric and furniture merchant, built his home in 2020 in a “beautiful high area with fresh air”.However, the recent establishment of an Israeli settler outpost nearby turned his dream into a “hell” amid threats of attacks.On the night of April 21, 2026, a group of settlers breached his property, destroying glass doors and attempting to break into the main house before locals intervened and forced them to flee.Faqih noted that Israeli forces arrived 20 minutes later and reviewed the surveillance footage, which clearly showed the faces of two unmasked attackers fleeing back to the outpost. Despite filing a formal police complaint and handing over the evidence, Faqih was shocked to learn the case was later closed against “unknown assailants”.Settlers who commit crimes against Palestinians are generally granted impunity as Israeli authorities rarely punish them. An Israeli court freed a settler accused of killing 31-year-old Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in 2025.Forced to protect his family, Faqih surrounded his home with heavy barbed wire and reinforced window guards.Following the attack, Sadeq Faqih was forced to fortify his dream home in Beit Imrin with heavy barbed wire and metal guards, transforming it into what he describes as a ‘real prison’ [Courtesy of the Faqih family] “It became a real prison,” he said, adding that despite the “terror”, “we will not leave our homes under any circumstances”.More than 117 villages and communities in the West Bank have been subject to either complete or partial displacement due to settler attacks, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).Faqih’s wife, Abeer, was 36 weeks pregnant when the armed settlers stormed their yard.“I didn’t know what to do or what was going to happen to us,” Abeer recalled. “They broke the glass and wanted to come inside. Out of fear, I started running, went down the stairs, and slipped.”Her water broke amid the panic, prompting doctors to induce a premature delivery. Baby Saleh was born mere hours after the attack on April 22.Today, the baby remains in the intensive care unit at the Hclinic Specialty Hospital in Ramallah, battling complications from his premature birth. He suffers from a Pseudomonas bacterial infection and lung issues exacerbated by a ventilator.“Every time they try to remove the breathing tube, his chest struggles,” Abeer told Al Jazeera.Baby Saleh Faqih, born prematurely after his mother slipped and went into labour during the settler attack, continues to fight for his life in a Ramallah intensive care unit [Courtesy of the Faqih family] A systemic surge in violenceThe tragedies suffered by the Rashid and Faqih families reflect a broader, systemic surge in violence across the occupied territory, advocates say.In May alone this year, the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission documented 1,659 attacks carried out by Israeli forces and settlers against Palestinians and their properties. Of these, 551 were carried out by settlers exclusively, with violence heavily concentrated in the governorates of Hebron, Ramallah and el-Bireh and Nablus.The economic lifelines and homes of Palestinian communities are the target. Throughout May this year, authorities recorded 436 attacks on Palestinian properties, including 215 specific incidents of vandalism and destruction. Agricultural lands were also severely impacted, with 124 separate attacks resulting in the burning, uprooting or vandalism of 7,222 trees, including 3,317 olive trees. In one such attack on May 8, settlers set fire to a Palestinian home in the village of al-Lubban Asharqiya, south of Nablus.