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Western nations urge Israel to halt settler violence: joint statement

15 December 2023, MVT 20:43
Men stand amid the rubble of a building destroyed during an Israeli army operation in the Jenin refugee camp in Jenin, on December 15, 2023. The West Bank, which is ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), has seen a surge in violence since the October 7 attacks in southern Israel. the Palestinian health ministry said 11 people had been killed since the Israeli military launched a raid in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp earlier this week. -- Photo: Zain Jaafar / AFP
15 December 2023, MVT 20:43

Western nations and the European Union Friday urged Israel to "take concrete steps to halt unprecedented violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank," in a joint statement published by France's foreign ministry.

The call from Australia, Britain, Canada, France, the European Union and several other European countries -- but notably excluding Germany and the United States -- highlighted "an unprecedented number of attacks perpetrated by extremist settlers" since early October that they said had claimed eight Palestinian lives and wounded 83 people.

Reiterating that Israel's settlement policy "is illegal under international law," the signatories of Friday's statement said that "as the occupying power, Israel must protect Palestinian civilians in the West Bank" and "bring those responsible for this violence to justice".

A picture taken from southern Israel on the border with the Gaza Strip shows Israeli APC (Armoured Personnel Carriers) and battle tanks returning from northern Gaza on December 15, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.- Photo: Gil Cohen-Magen / AFP

Friday's statement comes days after EU chief Ursula von der Leyen backed imposing sanctions on "extremist" Israeli settlers -- although not all of the bloc's 27 nations agree.

While some members such as Spain have sharply criticised Israel's response to Hamas' October 7 attack, others including Germany stand firmly behind the state.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, and in recent months troops have carried out repeated deadly raids on the Jenin refugee camp in the territory's north.

More than 280 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7, health officials say.

Over the same period, more than 18,700 people have been killed in the Israeli offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run besieged Palestinian territory.

The war broke out with an attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel, which Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people and saw some 240 people taken hostage, of whom 105 have been released and several killed.

Most of those killed in both Israel and the Palestinian territories have been civilians.

© Agence France-Presse

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