In a rare move, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly criticized the escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Speaking from Hamilton International Airport in Canada following a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting, Rubio highlighted the strong condemnations issued by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and senior military officials regarding recent settler attacks. These attacks, which included arson and property destruction in Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, also saw settlers targeting Israeli military and police forces sent to quell the violence. Several Palestinians were injured, and significant damage was inflicted on their land and property. Israeli President Herzog described the incidents as ‘shocking and serious,’ urging decisive action to eradicate such violence. Army Chief Eyal Zamir and Major General Avi Bluth also condemned the attacks, with Bluth labeling the settlers as an ‘anarchist fringe’ that hinders military counterterrorism efforts. Despite these official condemnations, settler violence has surged to near-daily occurrences since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel and the subsequent war on Gaza, which the United Nations has recognized as a genocide. The Israeli military has faced accusations of complicity in these attacks. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 264 settler violence incidents in October alone—the highest monthly figure since records began in 2006. This year, around 1,500 settler attacks have been documented. While the Biden administration has imposed sanctions on some Israeli settlers and settlement-related entities, the Trump administration had lifted these sanctions in January. Rubio emphasized the US administration’s commitment to preventing West Bank violence from undermining the Gaza peace deal. The G7 ministers also expressed concern over the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank, condemning extremist settler violence and urging all parties to refrain from actions that could jeopardize a two-state solution. Israeli settler violence persisted on Thursday, with settlers setting fire to a mosque in Deir Istiya and vandalizing walls with racist graffiti, while also using bulldozers to expand a new settlement outpost on Jabal al-Najma in Qaryut. Israeli settlements are illegal under international law.