EU: Settler violence Against Palestinians in the West Bank Must Stop

 

Image Source: Dawn

European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen said on Friday that escalating violence by extremists in the Israeli-occupied West Bank must be stopped.

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased since the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

"We must prevent violence from spreading, and so peaceful coexistence is only possible with a two-state solution," von der Leyen told a news conference in Canada alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Council President Charles Michel. I said.

"The Palestinian people and Arab neighbors need reassurance that there will be no forced displacement but a viable approach, an independent Palestinian state reunified with Gaza and the West Bank and governed by a reformed Palestinian Authority. And To that end, the unacceptable violence by extremists in the West Bank will have to stop,” he added.

Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden also said the US was ready to issue a visa ban against "extremists" who have attacked civilians in the West Bank.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron also urged Israel to crack down on "totally unacceptable" violence by West Bank settlers.

"People are actually targeting and killing Palestinian civilians on the spot, this is completely unacceptable and it is not enough to arrest those responsible, they should be arrested, prosecuted and jailed. I need to be put in. These are crimes," he told the BBC.

"Regarding the West Bank, I want to express France's strongest condemnation of settler violence against Palestinians," French Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anne-Claire Legendre said earlier.

"Violence with the express purpose of forced displacement of Palestinians and a policy of terror." He said that the Israeli authorities need to take necessary measures to protect the Palestinian population and warned that the settlement policy undermines the two-state solution.

Of the 235 attacks by settlers against Palestinians by OCHA, more than a third involved "the use of firearms to threaten Palestinians, including through shootings".