REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JERUSALEM -- A fire broke out on Sunday (10/1) in the Jerusalem offices of one of Israel's leading human rights groups. Authorities were checking whether it was set deliberately, Reuters reported.

The fire at the offices of B'Tselem, an Israeli group that monitors human rights among Palestinians, took place at a time of heightened tensions. Scores of people have been killed in several months of violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

Firefighters arrived at the offices, in a quiet Jerusalem neighborhood, and extinguished the blaze. There were no reports of casualties, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

Now in its fourth month, the wave of bloodshed has raised fears of wider escalation, a decade after the last Palestinian uprising subsided. Palestinian stabbings, car-rammings and shooting attacks have killed 21 Israelis and a U.S. citizen.

Since 1st October Israeli forces or armed civilians have killed at least 139 Palestinians, 89 of whom authorities described as assailants. Most others have been killed in clashes with security forces.

Vandalism attacks, including torchings, by suspected far-right Israeli groups have caused damage to Palestinian property and mosques and churches.

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