The attack is believed to have been perpetrated by militant Jewish settlers in retaliation for the demolitions in Migron. These had been ordered by Israel's supreme court in August in response to a pleading from Peace Now on the grounds that they were built on privately owned land. Newspapers, as well as Rabbis for Human Rights, reported that the attack on the mosque was apparently part of the notorious "price tag policy" of certain factions amongst settlers. Palestinian security authorities claimed this to be the sixth mosque in two years attacked by settlers in the West Bank. Israeli police began an investigation into the incident the following day. According to the United Nations, it is one of more than 250 incidents involving settlers in 2011 in which Palestinians were injured or their property was damaged.
