The top US diplomat stated the Biden administration is working to prevent settler attacks from derailing critical ceasefire negotiations.
WASHINGTON – Escalating violence in the West Bank poses a direct threat to the precarious Gaza peace process, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio cautioned on Wednesday. He warned that the surge in attacks by Israeli settlers could spill over and jeopardize U.S.-backed efforts to maintain a ceasefire and forge a lasting peace.
Speaking to reporters after a G7 foreign ministers’ summit in Canada, Rubio acknowledged the dangerous link between the two fronts. “I hope not,” he said when asked if the West Bank unrest could sabotage the Gaza truce. “We don’t expect it to. We’ll do everything we can to make sure it doesn’t happen.”
The comments mark a public admission from a senior U.S. official that the administration views the situation holistically, where flare-ups in one Palestinian territory can quickly undermine stability in the other. The U.S. is now tasked with containing the violence in the occupied West Bank to protect the fragile diplomatic progress made in Gaza.
