Full story
Turmus Ayya visit
The U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee visited Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian town near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where he met Palestinian Americans who have reported attacks by Israeli settlers.
“"Crime is crime, terror is terror"”
During the visit, Huckabee described the violence of settlers against American citizens in the area as terrorism and told reporters, "Crime is crime, terror is terror," warning that those who commit it "should expect severe consequences."
Huckabee also emphasized that Turmus Ayya residents "have legitimate complaints" and that he went to "listen to them," insisting that Israel "must ensure the safety of Palestinian citizens in the West Bank."
The visit took place in a town of about 3,000 inhabitants, where the mayor Nawwaf Zaghoul said around 80% are Palestinian-American, and the town council member Awad Abu Samra said two settlers burst in aboard an all-terrain motorcycle into the eastern part of the town about 100 meters from where the ambassador was at that moment.
Responsibility and accountability
Huckabee said on Saturday that the Israeli government bears responsibility for ensuring the safety of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, telling Palestinian Americans in the West Bank, "the government’s responsibility to ensure that."
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Turmus Aya, said Huckabee met local officials and Palestinian Americans who have been seeing firsthand the effects of settler pogroms, and Ibrahim quoted one message from residents that the violence is "systematic violence being practised against Palestinians."
Ibrahim also reported that settlers in the area "wrote slogans not just against Palestinians, but also against him [Huckabee]" and that one person Huckabee met, Ruwan Alqam, said every time her family leaves their occupied West Bank home, "we’re hit with roadblock after roadblock, settlers after settlers."
Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli ambassador, told Al Jazeera that Huckabee’s visit is "largely symbolic" and said it is "not going to change American policy," while Pinkas added that the Trump administration "doesn’t seem to care enough" to pressure Israel.
UN findings and wider risks
A report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, published Friday, said Israeli security forces forcibly displaced all Palestinian residents of three refugee camps in the West Bank during January and February 2025 and are still preventing their return, in violation of international law.
“raises serious concerns of a crime against humanity: forced transfer”
The report, entitled “Destruction of Palestinian refugee camps in northern West Bank,” said the Israeli army, Israeli police, and other forces deployed as part of the ongoing “Iron Wall” operation killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged roads and other infrastructure, cut water and electricity, and blocked humanitarian access to the Jenin, Nour Shams, and Tulkarm refugee camps.
By October 2025, the report said 52% of buildings in the Jenin refugee camp, 48% in Nour Shams, and 36% in Tulkarm had been destroyed or damaged, and it confirmed that the large-scale, long-term, systematic displacement of more than 33,000 Palestinians from refugee camps during Israel’s Iron Wall operation raises serious concerns of a crime against humanity: forced transfer.
In the same broader context of settler violence and Israeli operations, Al Jazeera reported that Huckabee told reporters, "Our clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror," and that when people do it, they should have an expectation that they will have "severe consequences."