A visiting US delegation has sharply rebuked a senior Israeli official over illegal settlers' violence in the occupied West Bank, Israel's Channel 12 reported.
The delegation includes members of the US Senate and House of Representatives, advisers to senior US officials and professional teams, according to the broadcaster.
During a meeting focused on illegal settlers' violence, the delegation told the unnamed Israeli security official: "We are defending you in every way and under difficult conditions, when the entire world is against you."
"Your response cannot be acts of violence, looting, and attempts to harm the Palestinians," the delegation said.
The US delegation also warned Israel not to take American support for granted while allowing such acts to continue.
"Do not take American support for granted when you allow these actions to continue. It will come back to you through the back door. How can you not understand this yourself?" it said.
Channel 12 reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security meeting Monday with Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir and other officials to discuss illegal settlers' violence in the occupied West Bank at the request of the US.
Increased violence
Occupied West Bank has seen a sharp rise in illegal settlers' attacks and Israeli military raids since Israel launched its genocide in Gaza in October 2023, alongside expanding illegal settlement activity and restrictions on Palestinian movement.
According to figures released by the Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal settlers have killed 25 Palestinians since the start of 2026, 61 since October 2023 and 87 since 2019.
Most were killed in the governorates of Ramallah and al-Bireh, and Nablus, according to the commission.
During the first half of 2026, illegal settlers carried out 3,488 attacks across the occupied West Bank, killing 17 Palestinians, the commission said.
The attacks also fully or partially displaced 26 Bedouin and pastoral communities, while illegal settlers established 42 new illegal settlement outposts, most of them pastoral outposts, according to the commission.
According to Palestinian and Israeli official figures, about 750,000 settlers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 outposts across the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, where they carry out attacks aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians.
