US urges Israel to crack down on West Bank settler attacks
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US is 'very disturbed' by recent West Bank settler violence and has asked Israel to take tougher action to deter such attacks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that the United States wants Israel to do more to deter attacks committed by settlers in the West Bank. "We're very disturbed by those images and what we're seeing," Rubio told reporters before boarding a flight to Uzbekistan. "We've asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff."
His remarks came after widely shared videos showed multiple individuals attacking Heidi Levine, an American photojournalist with the Washington Post. Levine was among at least two people injured in a Friday incident in which Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian civilians.
Rubio said the US State Department has inquired about the event involving the attack on Levine and that he expects to hear back from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday. Yesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group, has recorded at least 170 settler attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest.
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States wants Israel to do more to deter attacks committed by settlers in the West Bank, stating, 'We're very disturbed by those images and what we're seeing.'
confirmedThe comments followed widespread video of individuals attacking Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photojournalist, who was one of at least two people injured in a Friday incident where Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian civilians.
confirmedYesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group, recorded at least 170 settler attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest.
confirmed