US aid agency chief demands end to Israeli settlers' attacks in occupied West Bank

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Chief of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Friday demanded an end to "intolerable violence" by the Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

"This youth center in the West Bank was once a place where thousands of Palestinians came together. Repeated attacks by extremist Israeli settlers have forced its doors to close and sent shock waves of fear through the community. This violence is intolerable and must stop," Samantha Power said on X, posting a video of her tour at the center.

Power on Thursday met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss humanitarian assistance to civilians in the Gaza Strip.

Earlier this week, she announced an additional $53 million in urgently needed humanitarian assistance for the people of Gaza and the West Bank to help scale up critical food, water, shelter, and hygiene items.

"Still, far more needs to be done to increase aid workers' ability to deliver this lifesaving aid," she said.

Israel has launched a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 30,035 Palestinians have since been killed and 70,457 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.