By Rabia Iclal Turan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US on Monday expressed deep concern over recent incidents of illegal Israeli settler violence targeting Palestinians in the West Bank, urging the Israeli government to take immediate action to address and prevent such attacks.
Recalling the recent incidents, including an attack near Al-Bireh in West Bank where settlers torched 20 Palestinian-owned cars, and another attack in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the US is "deeply concerned by these and other recent reports of increasing extremist settler violence".
"These violent actions cause intense human suffering for Palestinians, they threaten Israel's security, make the realization of a two state solution more difficult and undermine the prospects for peace and stability throughout the region," he said during a press briefing.
"It is critical that the Government of Israel deter extremist settler violence and take measures to protect all communities from harm in accordance with its international obligations."
Noting the previous sanctions by the US against Israeli settlers, Miller said the US will continue to use all tools at its disposal to promote accountability for violence in the West Bank and around the region.
According to Palestinian sources, Israeli settlers conducted approximately 1,490 attacks last month against Palestinians, their land, and properties across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Data from Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement organization, indicates that over half a million settlers reside illegally in 146 settlements and 224 outposts in the West Bank.
Tensions in the West Bank have intensified amid Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza, which, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, has resulted in the deaths of nearly 43,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since the October 7, 2023, attack by the Palestinian group Hamas. That attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures.
In the occupied West Bank, at least 768 Palestinians have been killed, and nearly 6,300 others injured by Israeli military actions, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.