President Joe Biden spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank on Wednesday in reaction to the attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7.
He also said he was stepping up efforts to find a two-state solution to the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to Biden, after the Hamas attack, settler attacks have been like “pouring gasoline” on the already-burning fires in the Middle East.
It has to stop, and it has to end now, Biden said at the start of a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was receiving a state visit to Washington.
According to Palestinian authorities, settler violence against Palestinians has increased since the Hamas attack, and settlers have even killed Palestinians. According to rights organizations, settlers have destroyed many tiny Bedouin communities, burned cars, and forced residents to flee to other locations.
According to the West Bank Protection Consortium, a group of humanitarian organizations and donor nations, including the European Union, since October 7, settler violence has forced hundreds of Palestinians to leave the West Bank. In addition, more than 1,100 people have been displaced since 2022. Following the Hamas attack on Gaza, deadly violence has increased in the West Bank as the Israeli force hunts down Palestinian militants.
The violence puts pressure on the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which controls portions of the West Bank and is extremely unpopular with Palestinians in large part because it works with Israel on security issues, and threatens to open a new front in the two-week-old conflict.
Announcing his conviction that Hamas was motivated in part by a desire to undermine American-led attempts to restore Israeli relations with some of its Arab neighbors, notably Saudi Arabia, Biden once again denounced the cruelty of the Hamas attack that left 1,400 Israelis dead.
The president added that Israelis, Palestinians, and their allies must cooperate to find a two-state solution after the Israel-Hamas crisis is resolved.
The violence puts pressure on the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which controls portions of the West Bank and is extremely unpopular with Palestinians in large part because it works with Israel on security issues, and threatens to open a new front in the two-week-old conflict.
Announcing his conviction that Hamas was motivated in part by a desire to undermine American-led attempts to restore Israeli relations with some of its Arab neighbors, notably Saudi Arabia, Biden once again denounced the cruelty of the Hamas attack that left 1,400 Israelis dead.
The president added that Israelis, Palestinians, and their allies must cooperate to find a two-state solution after the Israel-Hamas crisis is resolved.
“Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity, and peace,” Biden added. More than 6,500 Palestinians in Gaza have reportedly died in retaliatory strikes, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
According to Biden, Israel must respond cautiously to prevent unnecessary civilian casualties. Biden remarked that Israel “should be very careful to make sure that they’re focusing on going after the people that are propagandizing this war.”
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