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Previous Israeli investigations of mosque attacks have failed to produce results.

In April, a mosque was vandalised with Hebrew graffiti, cars were burnt and olive trees uprooted in the village of Hawara, near the Yitzhar settlement.

And in May, a mosque in the Palestinian village of Lubban al-Sharqiya, near Nablus, was gutted in a fire which also destroyed holy books.

No charges were brought against anyone in either case.

Mohammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, came to inspect the damage and talk to the locals.

"The settlers' message is: terrorise the Palestinian people," he told Reuters news agency.

"Crimes like these do not terrorise the Palestinian people. On the contrary, such attacks will only embolden the Palestinian people and increase our determination to achieve all of our rights," he reportedly said after delivering a brief sermon.