Worst violence in years in West Bank, US urges restoration of Israeli-Palestinian peace

There have been several incidents of violence involving Palestinians, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in the West Bank this week.

Căng thẳng Israel-Palestine leo thang, Mỹ khuyến khích khôi phục hòa bình. (Nguồn: alquds.com)

Israel-Palestine tensions show signs of escalation. (Source: alquds.com)

In a phone call with his Israeli counterpart Tzachi Hanegbi, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan encouraged all sides to take more steps to restore peace between Israel and Palestine, after signs of increasing violence.

According to the White House's announcement on June 23, during the phone call, Mr. Sullivan "sent his sincere condolences to the people of Israel for the June 20 terrorist attack caused by Hamas and expressed deep concern about recent extremist settler attacks on Palestinian civilians."

This week has seen some of the worst violence in years involving Palestinians, Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in the West Bank.

Specifically, Palestinian media on the night of June 22 reported clashes between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the area near the village of Jalud in the West Bank.

Videos circulating on the Internet show Jewish settlers and Palestinians throwing rocks at each other and several large fires breaking out near the village next to the Shiloh settlement, not far from the Eli settlement.

After the attack on the Eli settlement on June 20 that killed four Israelis, there have been continuous clashes between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in neighboring villages, causing the violence to escalate.

In another related development, on June 22, Israeli media released security video footage from a mosque in Urif showing a masked suspect apparently tearing up a Muslim Quran as settlers stormed a Palestinian town on June 21.

In the video, the man tears pages from the Quran and throws them on the ground as many other people look on, also covering their heads and faces with scarves.

Urif was home to two Palestinian gunmen who opened fire on a gas station on June 20, killing four Israelis. Settlers stormed the town in an attempt to take revenge on the Palestinians, leading to tense clashes between the two sides.

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