Washington increasingly worried about West Bank situation as US defence chief visits Israel

TEL AVIV – The United States is concerned that

escalating tensions in the West Bank

could draw Israeli and US attention away from Iranian activities, a message that Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin intends to deliver in Israel on Thursday.

Mr Austin delayed his arrival to Israel, and the government insisted that the meetings’ location be changed because more protests were anticipated against a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government to overhaul the country’s court system.

That comes as three Palestinians were killed on Thursday, days after Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank,

killing at least six Palestinian gunmen.

Among the dead was a Hamas member suspected of shooting to death two brothers from a Jewish settlement near the village of Huwara.

“Secretary Austin is perfectly capable of having conversations about both issues (the West Bank and Iran),” said a senior US defence official.

But Israel’s preoccupation with the West Bank “detracts from our ability to focus on what the strategic threat is right now, and that is Iran’s dangerous nuclear advances and continuing regional and global aggression”, the official said.

Mr Austin is expected to meet Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Mr Netanyahu near the Tel Aviv airport.

The shooting of the two Israeli brothers triggered a revenge attack by Jewish settlers, who killed a Palestinian man and torched dozens of houses and cars in a rampage described as a “pogrom” by a senior Israeli commander.

The rampage triggered worldwide outrage and condemnation, which escalated when ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has responsibility for aspects of the West Bank administration, said Huwara should be “erased”. Mr Smotrich later offered a partial retraction.

Mr Netanyahu sought on Sunday to soften the international outcry, saying Mr Smotrich’s remarks were “inappropriate”.

“Verbal assurances to do more to reduce the violence are empty without action to do so. The US can play a positive role in assisting only if there is a willingness to work for peace from all sides,” said Mr Mick Mulroy, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East.

There has been no sign of any let-up in the violence ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover festival.

Since the beginning of 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 70 Palestinians, including militant fighters and civilians. In the same period, Palestinians have killed 13 Israelis and one Ukrainian woman in apparently uncoordinated attacks. REUTERS