THE United States has urged Israel to step up efforts to curb settler violence in the occupied West Bank following attacks that injured an American photojournalist, European diplomats and other civilians.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was deeply concerned by footage showing individuals attacking Heidi Levine, a photojournalist with The Washington Post, during an incident on Friday involving Israeli settlers and Palestinian civilians.
“We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing,” Reuters cited Rubio telling reporters on Saturday.
“We’ve asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff.”
Rubio said the US State Department had sought information about the incident and that he expected to receive an update from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.
He made the remarks before boarding a flight to Uzbekistan.
Belgium’s foreign minister also said European diplomats and a French mayor had been attacked in the occupied West Bank.
The latest incidents come amid a series of attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers during the annual olive harvest.
According to Israeli settlement monitoring group Yesh Din, settlers had carried out at least 170 attacks against Palestinians since Sept 27, around the start of the harvest. - October 18, 2026