U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday condemned an attack by illegal Israeli settlers on a female Washington Post photographer as an "act of terror," demanding that Israeli authorities prosecute and imprison those responsible.
"Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards," Huckabee wrote on X, taking a far stronger tone than an earlier statement from Washington.
Clad in black and their faces masked, dozens of militant Israeli settlers burned olive trees and threw rocks at Palestinians in a coordinated attack on Friday on a village's harvest in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that injured at least two people, including Heidi Levine.
Netanyahu's main rival in the elections, Gadi Eisenkot also called it "Jewish terror" - the same term Levine used when speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday from her hospital bed.
"I've been covering this region for over 40 years, and I have never seen this country in such a state as it is today," Levine said, adding that she was "shocked and insulted" that Netanyahu referred to the attack on her and others as an alleged one.
Netanyahu in the past has attributed the violence to a small number of troublemakers. But cars have been burned, trees damaged and people hurt in communities across the Palestinian territory, with some people calling this the most dangerous season yet.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, a position upheld by the United Nations and widely supported by the international community. Many have expanded into sprawling residential communities, while illegal Israeli settlers have established hundreds of additional outposts without official authorization, often benefiting from Israeli military protection.
Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek these territories for an independent state, but the West Bank remains under Israeli military occupation as settlement expansion continues.
International condemnation of Israel's settlement policies has intensified, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi becoming one of the latest senior officials to demand action. During talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog this week, Wang urged Israel to halt and reverse its forced settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, according to a spokesperson Friday.