UK diplomat slams Jewish settler violence during occupied West Bank visit

The UK’s Deputy Consul General to Jerusalem Alison McEwen visited the occupied West Bank because of increasing illegal Jewish settlements and illegal Jewish settler violence against Palestinians.

McEwen visited the Burqa village in Ramallah and the Ein Samiya region on Thursday to observe the latest developments in the region.

She expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, noting that settlements and violence are expanding in Area C.

"These settlements are illegal," she said, adding that a two-state solution is undermined.

She added that many Palestinians are persecuted and intimidated by illegal Jewish settlers.

McEwen urged Israeli authorities to hold illegal Jewish settlers to account and said the right of the Palestinian people to live in peace and tranquillity should be guaranteed.

"Representatives from the UK, EU, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Finland, Belgium, Sweden, Canada and Norway visited the Palestinian community of Burqa and the site of the recently displaced community of Ras at-Tin amid accelerating rates of settler violence and following the demolition by Israeli authorities of donor-funded humanitarian structures, including a school in the nearby community of Ein Samiya," the British Consulate-General in Jerusalem said on X.

A 19-year-old Palestinian was killed on August 4 in a raid by illegal Jewish settlers in the village of Burqa.

Israeli forces destroyed a school in the Ein Samiya region on August 17 that was financed by the EU.

Escalating violence

Under the 1995 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, was divided into three portions – Areas A, B, and C.

While Area A represents 18 percent of the occupied West Bank and is controlled by the Palestinian Authority in terms of security and administration, Area B is 21 percent of the territory and is subject to Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control.

Area C, which represents 61 percent of the occupied West Bank, is under Israel’s civil and security control.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with East Jerusalem and Gaza.

The occupied West Bank has been rocked by violence since early last year, with at least 219 Palestinians and 31 Israelis killed amid the violence so far this year.