US will continue pressing Israel to clamp down on settler violence, says Rubio

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicates that the US is privately pressing Israel to crack down on rampant, largely unchecked settler violence.

Asked about the issue during a press conference at the State Department, Rubio weighs in, albeit without naming the phenomenon.

“Our embassy has put out statements and comments about specific incidents [in the West Bank] that we’re concerned about [and] that create a point of strong friction in the broader effort,” Rubio says.

“Ambassador [Mike] Huckabee has spoken to this as recently as a couple of weeks ago, very firmly, I believe,” he adds, apparently referring to the US envoy’s characterization of the violence as terrorism.

“We’ll continue to communicate that as we have and make our opinion known in regards to its impact on the broader challenges,” Rubio says.

Asked about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Rubio says the US wants to continue to see the amount of aid allowed into the Strip increase and is trying to stand up the Board of Peace, along with other postwar mechanisms, to better address the issue.