TURMUS AYYA, Palestinian Territories: The US ambassador to Israel said Saturday that the Israeli government has a responsibility to ensure the safety of Palestinians in the West Bank after a sharp rise in settler attacks.
“One of the messages that we have been sending and we will continue to send is that people in these communities have a right to live with a level of security and safety, and that the government has a responsibility to make sure that that happens,” Ambassador Mike Huckabee told reporters as he met Palestinian-Americans in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee told reporters that there was no plan underway to force Palestinians out of Gaza, after Israeli ministers laid out ideas on how to expel the war-battered territory’s two million people.
“I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people out of Gaza against their will,” US ambassador told reporters.
The US envoy called for “severe consequences” to stop violence in the occupied West Bank as Palestinian-Americans reported attacks from Israeli settlers.
“Our clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror. When people do it they should have an expectation that they will have severe consequences,” Mike Huckabee told reporters as he visited the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, which has a high number of US citizens, but he declined to criticise Israel.
