The United States is warning Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rein in “extremist” settlers in the West Bank in the wake of reports of violence against Palestinians.
“Well, we believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu does have a responsibility to rein in the extremist settlers on the West Bank who are, as President Biden put it a few days ago, pouring fuel on the fire,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.
“And it is totally unacceptable to have extremist settler violence against innocent people in the West Bank. That is something that we will continue to press on,” he added.
Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has escalated since militant group Hamas launched a surprise deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7, prompting Israel to declare war on the group.
The Associated Press reported that at least seven Palestinians have been killed by settlers since the war broke out more than three weeks ago. A settler shot and killed a Palestinian man who was harvesting olives near the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, according to the man’s uncle.
President Biden also condemned the attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank last week.
“It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” Biden said at the start of a news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week.
More than 100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the onset of the war, most during military arrest raids by Israel and amid violent protests, according to the AP.
The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported that more than 8,000 people in Gaza have died since the start of the Israeli offensive earlier this month, the majority of which are women and children. More than 1,400 Israelis were also killed, mostly in the initial wave of Hamas’s attacks on Oct. 7.