World · Middle East · 22 mins ago
Rubio urges Israel to crack down on West Bank settler violence
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States wants Israel to do more to deter settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.
He spoke after video spread showing people attacking Heidi Levine, an American photojournalist with The Washington Post.
Levine was among at least two people injured on Friday as Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians.
Belgium's foreign minister also said European diplomats and a French mayor were attacked in the West Bank.
An Israeli monitoring group says settlers have carried out at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest.
The US State Department has asked about the incident, and Rubio said he expects to hear from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States wants Israel to do more to deter attacks by settlers in the West Bank.
Rubio said the United States had asked Israel to crack down on the violence and would continue to do so.
His comments followed the circulation of video showing people attacking American photojournalist Heidi Levine.
Levine was one of at least two people injured in a Friday incident in which settlers attacked Palestinian civilians.
Monitoring group Yesh Din recorded at least 170 settler attacks on Palestinians since September 27.
- Who
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States wants Israel to act. Settlers were reported to have attacked Palestinians.
- What
- The United States urged Israel to crack down on settler violence in the West Bank.
- When
- Rubio made the comments on Saturday, October 17, 2026. The reported attack happened on Friday.
- Where
- The incident took place in the occupied West Bank.
- Why
- The United States wants Israel to deter settler attacks. Rubio said he was disturbed by the images and what was happening.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Settlers attacked Palestinian civilians in an incident in which Heidi Levine and at least one other person were injured.
Rubio said the United States had asked Israel to crack down on settler violence.
Rubio said he expected to hear back from the US Embassy in Jerusalem about the event.
- Injured
- Heidi Levine was one of at least two people injured in the Friday incident.
- Attacks recorded
- Yesh Din reported at least 170 settler attacks on Palestinians since September 27.
- Photojournalist
- Heidi Levine is an American photojournalist with the Washington Post.
- Rubio's response
- He said the United States had asked Israel to crack down on settler violence.
2 sources
What people are saying
We've asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff.
We're very disturbed by those images and what we're seeing.