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US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said Israel’s government has a responsibility to protect Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, following a visit to a Palestinian town where residents have reported repeated attacks by illegal settlers.
Huckabee made the comments on Saturday after meeting Palestinian families in Turmus Ayya, a town near Ramallah, including relatives of US citizens who were killed by Israeli settlers.
“One of the messages that we have been sending and we will continue to send is that people in these communities have a right to live with a level of security and safety, and that the government has a responsibility to make sure that that happens,” Huckabee told reporters.
The visit comes as violence by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has increased sharply since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government, described as Israel’s most right-wing administration, came to power in 2022.
Residents of Turmus Ayya say the expansion of illegal settlements around the town has intensified tensions, with some accusing settlers of damaging Palestinian property and carrying out regular harassment while Israeli forces often fail to intervene or prosecute offenders.
Mayor Nawwaf Zaghoul said the town continues to face serious challenges from settler attacks.
“We have many issues that we will address,” Zaghoul told reporters, pointing to what he described as ongoing assaults against residents.
“We are hoping that (the ambassador) will do something for us regarding these lawless settlers,” Hazama said.
Huckabee, a Baptist minister and longtime supporter of Israeli settlements, has previously called for the prosecution of violent offenders among illegal settlers. He has argued that those responsible represent only a small minority within a wider settler population estimated at around 750,000 people.
The ambassador also recently visited Taybeh, a Christian Palestinian village, after a church was vandalised, describing the incident as an act of “terror” and a crime.
Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s government has continued expanding settlements across the occupied West Bank, an area Palestinians view as central to a future independent state.
The United Nations and most countries consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law, while Israel maintains that the territory is disputed rather than occupied.
