Israel arrests 3 settlers over mosque attack

Three Israeli settlers have been arrested on suspicion of attacking Palestinian property and buildings, including a mosque, police said on Sunday. "Three residents of the settlements, two adults and a minor, were arrested at the end of the week for acts of vandalism, including participation in the burning of a mosque in northern Israel at the beginning of October," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. He said "more than eight" people in all had been arrested in connection with various attacks against Palestinian property in Israel and the West Bank recent months, including two currently in prison and the three detained last week. The Oct. 3 attack on a mosque in the Bedouin village of Tuba Zangaria in the northern Galilee, which caused extensive damage, came after a spate of similar incidents. Hardline Jewish settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy under which they attack Palestinians and their property in response to Israeli government measures against settlements. Although such acts of vengeance normally occur in the occupied West Bank, a similar attack targeted another mosque in Ibtin village in Galilee last year.