The United States has called violence by West Bank settlers in tandem with the Gaza conflict “incredibly destabilising” and urged Israel to rein them in, AFP reports.

Settler violence in the West Bank is “incredibly destabilising and counterproductive to Israel’s long-term security in addition to, of course, being extremely harmful to the Palestinians living in the West Bank”, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has told reporters.

“We have sent a very clear message to them that it’s unacceptable, it needs to stop and those responsible for it need to be held accountable,” Miller said of US contact with the Israeli government.