US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday said “there’s some concern” about events in the West Bank undermining efforts to maintain the ceasefire in Gaza, in his first remarks on the latest spate of settler violence.

“Certainly there’s some concern about events in the West Bank spilling over and creating an effect that could undermine what we’re doing in Gaza,” Rubio told reporters, before clarifying that he hopes the violence doesn’t undermine the ceasefire and does not expect it to, either.

Rubio hailed the condemnations that were issued by President Isaac Herzog and senior commanders in the IDF against the settler violence, a day after dozens of Israelis launched a large-scale arson attack on Palestinians in the West Bank, targeting factories and farmland between the major cities of Nablus and Tulkarem.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the rest of his coalition have been mum on the phenomenon. Critics accuse the government of tacitly backing the attacks, which have been taking place on a near-daily basis.

Though he avoided an outright condemnation, Rubio’s comments marked a rare instance in which US President Donald Trump’s administration weighed in on the issue of settler violence.

On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order ending the sanctions regime established a year earlier by then-president Joe Biden against extremist settler individuals and entities.

Attacks have continued unabated since, including repeated raids of several Christian villages. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who is an ordained pastor, paid a visit to one of those towns in July and called for those targeting the........

© The Times of Israel