JERUSALEM, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday issued a rare condemnation of settler violence in the West Bank, calling attacks in the Palestinian villages of Qusra and Jalud "criminal" and urging authorities to arrest those responsible.
"I strongly condemn the criminal acts of violence committed in the villages of Qusra and Jalud," Netanyahu said in a statement, calling the attackers as "a handful of rioters who are violating the law."
Netanyahu said these attacks "harm Israel's international standing" and interfere with the military's operations in the West Bank.
The condemnation came after multiple Palestinians were reportedly injured on Saturday in attacks by Israeli settlers across the West Bank.
Dozens of masked Israeli settlers raided Qusra, injuring several Palestinians in the latest wave of settler violence, according to reports.
In nearby Jalud, settlers attacked a Palestinian family and foreign journalists, vandalizing their vehicle and physically assaulting crew members, according to activist Bashar al-Qaryouti.
More than half a million Israeli settlers live in the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, alongside about 3.4 million Palestinians, according to Palestinian and Israeli sources.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented more than 1,330 settler attacks causing Palestinian casualties or property damage across the occupied West Bank from the start of 2026 to late July, an average of more than six incidents a day.
According to the Palestinian Liberation Organization's Commission against the Wall and Settlements, Israeli forces and settlers carried out 2,256 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank in July alone.■
