US says violence by West Bank settlers 'incredibly destabilising'

The United States on Wednesday called violence by West Bank settlers in tandem with the Israel-Hamas war "incredibly destabilizing" and urged Israel to rein them in.Settler violence in the West Bank is "incredibly destabilising and counterproductive to Israel's long-term security in addition to, of course, being extremely harmful to the Palestinians living in the West Bank," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters."We have sent a very clear message to them that it's unacceptable, it needs to stop and those responsible for it need to be held accountable," Miller said of US contact with the Israeli government.Violence in the West Bank has been on the rise since early last year, marked by frequent army raids, attacks by Israeli settlers and Palestinian attacks on Israeli forces and settlers.More than 120 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza war began on October 7.Since then, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 8,500 people have been killed in Israel's bombardment, two-thirds of them women and children.