USA on Monday urged Israel to take action over violence by settlers in the West Bank, voicing alarm after the torching of nearly 20 cars near Ramallah.
“The United States is deeply concerned by these and other recent reports of increasing extremist settler violence in the West Bank,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
In addition to the torching of cars on Monday, Miller pointed to West Bank settlers’ attacks on homes, killing of Palestinians’ livestock and hindering of olive harvesting.
“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,” Miller said.
“This includes intervening, preventing and stopping such violence. It is further incumbent upon the relevant authorities to do everything possible to de-escalate tensions and hold all perpetrators of violence against civilians equally accountable, no matter the background of the perpetrator or the victim,” he said.
The United States has repeatedly voiced alarm and imposed sanctions over violence by settlers in the West Bank in tandem with Israel’s war in Gaza that has targeted Hamas since the Gaza-based militants’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.