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The mosque in the Beit Safafa neighbourhood suffered damage in the attack but no one was hurt, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Firefighters were called to the scene and quickly brought the blaze under control. Police have opened an investigation into the suspected arson attack.

"Police were summoned to a mosque in Beit Safafa, in Jerusalem, following a report of arson in one of the building's rooms and spraying of graffiti on a nearby wall outside the building," a police statement said.

"A wide-scale search is taking place in Jerusalem," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP. "We believe that the incident took place overnight. We are searching for suspects."

The spokesman would not say if police viewed it as a hate crime.

The mosque was branded by graffiti referencing the illegal West Bank settlement outpost of "Kumi Ori" - the site of several clashes between settlers and Israeli soldiers.

The graffitti on the building read "Destroying Jews? Kumi Ori is destroying enemies!". 

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Ofer Cassif, a parliamentarian from the Palestinian-majority Joint List, condemned the hate crime, saying in comments quoted by Haaretz, "when the police and the General Security Services deliberately refrain from punishing the rioters, it will come as no surprise if people will also soon be burned".

"There is no doubt that disregarding the state is a high instruction, from Netanyahu himself. The events serve him," Cassif added.