Palestine warns of growing Israeli settler violence in West Bank

Ramallah, July 2 (IANS) Palestine has warned of the growing violence of the Israeli settlers in the West Bank, including increasing attacks on the Palestinians and their properties.

"During the past few weeks, there has been a growing and spreading violence of Israeli settlers all over the West Bank," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday in a press statement, referring to Israeli settler attacks on unarmed Palestinian civilians, and their homes, vehicles and properties.

The statement came after Israel Radio reported that Israeli security sources accused the Israeli government of preventing the security services from dealing with settler "violations" against the Palestinians in the West Bank, Xinhua news agency reported.

It is clear that the Israeli Army and government have provided support and protection for these settler groups, the statement added.

The Ministry condemned the attacks as "settler terrorism," urging the international community to list the settler groups as terrorist organisations "and pressure the Israeli government to dismantle them and dry up their financial resources".

In an official statement, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) also slammed Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for encouraging the Israeli settlers "to escalate assaults on the Palestinians in the West Bank," calling on the international community "to take a real and practical position toward the terrorism practiced by the Israeli settlers".

The West Bank was seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Despite international criticism, Israel has maintained control over the territory and established dozens of settlements on it.

The settlement issue is one of the most prominent disputes between the Palestinians and Israelis and one of the main reasons for suspending the last direct peace negotiations between the two sides in 2014.

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