Six armed men in a white car drove into Beit Fajjar village near Bethlehem
early Monday morning and spray-painted Hebrew insults on the walls before
setting the building alight, according to officials.
Some of the group were wearing Jewish skullcaps and at least one wore a mask,
they said.
Several Korans and prayer rugs were incinerated in the attack, according to
Ali Sawabta of the local municipality.
Both the Israeli police and military are investigating the incident.
The Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza, meanwhile, condemned what it called "the
Zionist desecration of houses of God".
The dispute over Jewish settlements has been at the heart of US-led
negotiations aimed at rescuing Israel-Palestinian
peace talks after a ban on building new settler homes in the West Bank
expired on September 26.
Hardline settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy
under which they attack Palestinians,
their fields or villages, whenever the Israeli government takes measures to
curb settlement construction.
