David Lammy condemns ‘abhorrent’ attack on West Bank village by Israeli settlers

16 August 2024, 18:18 | Updated: 16 August 2024, 18:23

The UK foreign secretary has condemned an attack by Israeli settlers on a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank that left one person dead.

Israeli settlers opened fire on residents of the village of Jit on Thursday night, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Residents report at least 100 masked figures burning homes and cars as well as shooting live ammunition.

David Lammy, who on Thursday jetted to Israel and Palestine with his French counterpart, Stéphane Séjourné in a bid to calm tensions in the region, called the attack “abhorrent”.

Read more: US 'says Israel can't achieve any more in Gaza', as David Lammy flies out in bid to 'prevent all out Middle East war'

Read more: Hamas confirm they will not join ceasefire talks with Israel this week

He said: “The scenes overnight of the burning and the torching of buildings, of the molotov cocktails thrown at cars, of the widespread rampage and chasing of people from their homes is abhorrent and I condemn it in the strongest of terms.

“Prime minister Netanyahu has said that there will be a swift investigation.

“I hope that that investigation can ensure that those who have engaged in this settler violence over the course of the last 24 hours are brought to justice.”

The West Bank, which unlike Gaza is not under Hamas control, has seen the deaths of over 500 Palestinians since October 7.

Lammy’s visit to Israel is “important, timely and historic” Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, told Times Radio.

He said: “We need sufficient pressure on Netanyahu to actually deliver what the world has a consensus on. And that’s why the visit of the British and the French foreign secretary is absolutely important, timely and historic.

“We literally wish them success because nothing is needed now more than stopping this carnage, this madness.

“And if it’s not stopped now, after all the sheer suffering, all that happened over the course of 11 months, and ... stopping a regional war that I believe Netanyahu was instigating, if it doesn’t happen, then we are into a new arena that will be a lose-lose for everybody. So let’s hope, let’s pray, let’s work together that later today we will hear good news.”

Mr Lammy flew to the Middle East as ceasefire talks between Iran, Israel and the United States intensified.

The US is said to have warned that Israel cannot achieve anything more with its military campaign in Gaza, as it pushed for a ceasefire deal.

Several US officials warned that Israel would never be able to eradicate Hamas completely, despite that being one of Benjamin Netanyahu's stated war aims.

The officials told the New York Times that the US believed a deal was the way to secure the release of the remaining hostages, rather than continued military action, in an assault that has already killed 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-linked health ministry.

But they added that Israel had managed to reduce Hamas' capabilities significantly more than they had expected.

A former top US military official said: "Israel has been able to disrupt Hamas, kill a number of their leaders and largely reduce the threat to Israel that existed before October 7".

In response, the IDF said that it was "committed to achieving the goals of the war to dismantle Hamas and bring home our hostages, and will continue to operate with determination to achieve them."