Settlers set fire to a Palestinian home in the West Bank
The White House said late on Thursday that it condemned the violent rampage carried out by over 100 settlers on a West Bank Palestinian village. "Attacks by violent settlers against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank are unacceptable and must stop," a National Security Council spokesperson said.
"Israeli authorities must take measures to protect all communities from harm, this includes intervening to stop such violence and holding all perpetrators of such violence to account.
The settlers entered the West Bank village of Jit on Thursday evening, setting homes and cars on fire. One man was reported to have been killed by gunfire and another suffered wounds to his chest and was brought to a Nablus hospital. According to the Palestinian health authorities, at least 11 villagers were hurt.
The rampage drew condemnation from Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said the perpetrators will be apprehended.
Settlers burn homes, cars in West Bank village rampage
“Those who fight terrorism are only the IDF and security forces, not anyone else,” he said.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the handful of extremists were harming the entire settlement project. “I firmly condemn any type of violence and give my full backing to the IDF, the Shin Bet and Israel Police to perform their roles and deal with the matter severely,” Gallant wrote in Hebrew on X. “The extremist rioting goes against all moral commandments of the State of Israel.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also condemned the violence claiming the perpetrators did not represent settlers.
While National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also criticized the rampage, he accused the IDF of failing to secure the settlers on the West Bank and said that was the cause of their violence.