JERUSALEM — Arsonists damaged a mosque in a West Bank village early Tuesday and sprayed Hebrew messages on the walls, leading to suspicions that Jewish settler extremists were responsible.

Israel’s prime minister and defense minister strongly condemned the act and accused the arsonists of trying to provoke a broader conflagration in the area. The Palestinian Authority government issued a statement accusing the Israeli authorities of turning a “blind eye” to such acts, giving settlers “impunity to continue their attacks.”

The desecration of the mosque, in the Palestinian village of Al Mughayyir, near Ramallah, comes at a delicate time of international efforts to bring the Israeli and Palestinian sides back to peace talks, in order to fend off a controversial Palestinian bid for recognition of statehood at the United Nations in the fall.

In this charged political climate and given the broader turmoil in the region, there are increasing fears of a slide into violence.