EU diplomat seeks accountability after settler rampage in West Bank

The European Union’s envoy to the Palestinians called yesterday for accountability and for perpetrators to be brought to justice after a rampage by Israeli settlers this week in the occupied West Bank in which one Palestinian was killed and dozens of houses, shops and cars were torched.Ambassador Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, heading one of the biggest EU delegations to visit the West Bank, said officials wanted to see with their own eyes the damage left by Sunday’s violence in and around the Palestinian village of Huwara.The rampage followed a Palestinian gun attack that killed two Israeli brothers."It is absolutely necessary for us that accountability is fully ensured, that the perpetrators be brought to justice, that those who lost property be compensated,” Kuhn von Burgsdorff said.Local media reported that, in a rare move, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday signed administrative detention orders for two suspects, after a Jerusalem court ordered police to release all seven people detained in connection with the rampage.Amnesty International condemned the release of the suspects in a statement and condemned use of administrative detention, saying it violated international law.Israeli rights group Yesh Din found that 93% of investigations into settler attacks in the West Bank between 2005 and 2022 were closed without indictment.On Tuesday, Israeli Major General Yehuda Fuchs, who commands the Israeli military in the area, said his forces had prepared for attempted settler retribution over the gun attack but had been surprised by the intensity of the violence by dozens of people.Violence in the West Bank has surged over the past year with stepped-up Israeli military raids.The United States, Jordan and Egypt have appealed for calm ahead of the holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover festival in late March and early April.The United States has demanded that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disavow a call on Wednesday by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for the village of Huwara to be erased.The UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk also criticised Smotrich’s remarks as "an unfathomable statement of incitement to violence and hostility”.On the night of the rampage, Netanyahu urged people not to take the law into their own hands, but he has not publicly addressed Smotrich’s statement or responded to the unusual criticism by Washington, a close ally.At least 62 Palestinians, including gunmen and civilians, have been killed since the start of 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said.Thirteen Israelis and a Ukrainian tourist died in Palestinian attacks in the same period, according to official Israeli figures.Palestinians seek to establish a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, areas Israel captured in a 1967 war. "We Palestinians will remain steadfast and we will defend our existence in the face of this occupation,” said Assaf.