Ammon News - The United States wants Israel to do more to deter ​attacks committed by settlers in the West Bank, ‌US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday.

"We're very disturbed by those images and what we're seeing," Rubio ​said. "We've asked the Israelis and continue to ​ask them to crack down on that stuff."

⁠His comments to reporters came after the widespread ​dissemination of video showing multiple individuals attacking Heidi Levine, ​an American photojournalist with the Washington Post. Levine was one of at least two people injured in the Friday incident, ​which took place as Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians.

European ​diplomats and a French mayor also were attacked in the ‌occupied ⁠West Bank, Belgium's foreign minister said.

The US State Department, Rubio said, has inquired about the event that included Levine's attack. Rubio, who spoke to reporters before ​boarding a ​flight to ⁠Uzbekistan, said he expects to hear back from the US Embassy in Jerusalem ​by Sunday.

Israeli settlers in the West Bank ​have ⁠been involved in at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the annual ⁠olive ​harvest, according to Yesh Din, ​an Israeli settlements monitoring group.


Reuters