Reuters quoted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as saying that Washington was deeply disturbed by footage documenting an assault on an American photojournalist, as well as scenes of violence against Palestinians.
Rubio said the US administration was closely monitoring developments in the region.
As the olive harvest season gets underway, he added, Washington has urged Israeli officials to take firm and deterrent measures to put an end to settler attacks.
The US statement followed an assault on Friday morning against Heidi Levine, a photojournalist working for The Washington Post, in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah.
Levine had been covering settler attacks against Palestinian farmers and foreign activists accompanying them to provide protection during the olive harvest season when she was directly assaulted at the scene.
According to Levine’s account, around 50 masked settlers gathered on a nearby hill and watched those working in the fields for approximately half an hour before charging toward them and using slingshots to hurl stones and incendiary bottles.
She added that the settlers knocked her to the ground and repeatedly beat and kicked her for more than 10 minutes. Israeli occupation forces were not present at the scene of the attack to intervene and stop the assault, she said
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