Israeli settlers hang donkey’s head in Muslim cemetery in East Jerusalem

Israeli settlers hung a donkey’s head on a grave in occupied East Jerusalem amid growing tensions across the occupied West Bank, according to local authorities today.

“A settler stormed the Bab Al-Rahma cemetery and hung a donkey’s head on a grave there,” the Jerusalem governor’s office said in a statement.

Palestinian activists shared images and footage showing the head of a dead donkey placed among the graves in the cemetery adjacent to Al-Aqsa Mosque.

There was no comment from the Israeli police on the incident.

Bab Al-Rahma is an ancient Muslim cemetery that has been an endowment property for more than 1,400 years. It contains numerous graves of notable companions of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

Tensions have been running high across the West Bank amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed at least 21,110 people, most of them women and children, since 7 October, according to local health authorities.

Since then, UN OCHA has recorded 367 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians, resulting in Palestinian casualties, damage to Palestinian-owned property, or both casualties and damage to property.  The weekly average of incidents since 7 October stands at 32, compared with 21 incidents per week between 1 January and 6 October.

READ: Israel arrests 10 more Palestinians in West Bank as tally nears 4,700 since 7 October