RAMALLAH, Thursday, September 21, 2023 (WAFA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today condemned in the strongest terms what it described as “the barbaric attack committed by members of the armed terrorist settler militia” against a European diplomatic delegation during its tour of the Wadi al-Siq Bedouin community, east of Ramallah, threatened by forced displacement.

It said in a statement that it considers the attack “a reflection of a racist, fascist colonial mentality that controls the behavior and attacks of those militias without any regard for international law, the immunity enjoyed by diplomats, and in disregard of the European anti-settlement position."

It is also an extension of the large-scale ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians, their land, homes, facilities, and their presence in all areas classified as “C,” including those European-funded, said the Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry said it holds the Israeli government fully and directly responsible for this attack and called for “firmer European and international stances to force the occupying state to abolish those militias and the terrorist bases in which they live by force in the occupied Palestinian territory and to hold accountable everyone who adopts, finances and supports its terrorism.”

“During a diplomatic visit to Palestinian communities in Area C, already displaced or threatened by displacement, European and other diplomatic missions were violently harassed by Israeli settlers,” according to a statement by the diplomats following the attack yesterday by the settlers.

“We reiterate our concern over the growing problem of settler violence and call on Israeli authorities to take action against violent settlers, dismantle illegal outposts and provide protection for the occupied Palestinian population,” they said.

M.K.