President Biden made a strong condemnation of Israeli settlers in the West Bank who are attacking Palestinians in retaliation for the Hamas attacks. “I continue to be alarmed about extremist settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank,” he said. “Pouring gasoline on fire is what it's like. This was a deal. The deal was made, and they're attacking Palestinians in places that they're entitled to be. It has to stop. They have to be held accountable, and it has to stop now.”
Rights groups and Palestinian authorities report people killed and cars torched in the West Bank. Hundreds of Palestinians have been displaced in the violence.
Biden, who was accompanied by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, on a state visit to the White House, said he believed Hamas was trying to undo Israel’s normalizing relationship with Arab countries like Saudi Arabia. When the war is over, he said, Israel and Palestine need to work on a two-state solution.
