US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Thursday that the US Embassy had intervened with Israeli authorities over the harassment of a Palestinian family in the West Bank village of Kusra, rejecting claims that US officials had failed to act and describing those responsible as "Israeli terrorists."
"This is another lie," Huckabee wrote on X/Twitter, responding to a claim concerning the US response to the incident. "The embassy has been VERY involved, and the IDF and Israel Police have gone at our request to remove the Israeli terrorists doing this."
"The actions of those doing this to this family’s home are criminal," Huckabee continued. "The WH hasn’t 'intervened' because we have kept DC apprised of the situation already."
West Bank settler violence escalates
Huckabee’s comments came after a senior White House official told KAN News that the US believes Israel is not doing enough to prevent West Bank settler violence.
According to the KAN report, the official plans to broach the issue with the Prime Minister’s Office and have it explain why the security establishment has not been able to get the situation under control.
Ongoing tensions between Jewish settler extremists and West Bank Palestinians escalated after a group of extremists imposed a makeshift siege on Palestinian homes in the village of Kusra on Wednesday.
When IDF troops and Border Police arrived in the area of the village and evacuated a settler outpost in an attempt to remove the settler extremists, clashes broke out, and as of Wednesday evening, the settlers still have not been removed from the village.