US calls murder of Palestinian teen by settlers ‘terror’
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Mourners carrying the body of Palestinian teenager Qusai Jamal Maatan during his funeral in the village of Burqa on Aug 5.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – The United States on Monday said that the killing of a 19-year-old Palestinian teenager by West Bank settlers was “terror”, sharpening its tone on far-right Israeli violence.
In a weekend post on Twitter, which has been rebranded X, the State Department’s bureau in charge of the Middle East strongly condemned the “terror attack by Israeli extremist settlers”.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller made clear on Monday that the word choice was not an accident.
“The thinking is that it was a terror attack and we are concerned about it, and that’s why we called it that,” he told reporters.
“We have also been clear that accountability and justice should be pursued with equal rigour in all cases of violent extremism, whoever the perpetrators are.”
He noted that Israel has made arrests, which he called “appropriate action”.
Mr Qusai Jamal Maatan was shot dead in Burqah, east of Ramallah, on Friday as armed settlers clashed with villagers.
Israeli media said that one of two suspects was a former aide to a lawmaker from the far-right Jewish Power party, whose leader, Mr Itamar Ben-Gvir, is public security minister.
The United Nations has warned of a dramatic spike in violence
US President Joe Biden’s administration has repeatedly criticised actions and statements from the coalition government, while stopping short of countermeasures that could trigger public spats with Mr Netanyahu, who is popular with the rival Republican Party.
The US under former president George W. Bush waged a global “war on terrorism” following the Sept 11, 2001, attacks by Islamist extremists.
His successor, Mr Barack Obama, was more sparing in the use of the word “terrorism”, preferring the less loaded “violent extremism”. AFP
