The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned the escalation of attacks and crimes by Israeli occupation forces, settler militias and their terrorist elements against Palestinians, their land, property, homes and shrines.
The ministry said the most recent attacks included a settler mob attacking unarmed civilians in the town of Qasra south of Nablus, and attacks on sheep herders in the village of Al-Mughayyir east of Ramallah. The settlers also cut and uprooted 74 olive trees in the town of Ni’lin west of Ramallah.
The ministry called on the international community to exert real international pressure to force the Israeli government to stop all its illegal unilateral measures, to restrain and dismantle settler militias and their terrorist organizations, and to dry up their sources of funding.
The ministry held the Israeli government, headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, fully and directly responsible for the attacks and attacks of the settler militias and their dangerous consequences on the conflict scene.
The ministry’s statement came a few days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the government would continue to build settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu’s comments were met with widespread condemnation from the international community.
The Palestinian Authority has long accused Israel of using settler violence as a way to pressure Palestinians to give up their claims to the West Bank. The PA has also said that the Israeli government has done little to stop the violence, which has been on the rise in recent months.
The United States has earlier condemned the settler violence. However, the US has not taken any concrete steps to stop the violence.
The escalation of settler violence comes at a time when the Israeli-Palestinian peace process is at a standstill. The two sides have not held direct negotiations since 2014.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said that the international community must take action to stop the settler violence and to revive the peace process.
