'Gravity' of settler violence discussed in Israel-Palestinian calls

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant moved to reassure Palestinian official Hussein Al Sheikh in rare call

Palestinians check burnt vehicles after Israeli settlers attack near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Reuters

Israeli politicians condemned extremist violence against Palestinians in phone calls with senior Palestinians on Tuesday.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said he reassured the Palestine Liberation Organisation's Hussein Al Sheikh about Israel's intention to crack down on settler violence.

Both the phone call and the announcement that such discussion took place were unusual for Israel's religious-nationalist government and followed mounting expressions of US concern about the situation in the occupied West Bank, among areas where Palestinians, with foreign backing, seek statehood.

Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital.

Peace talks that had been brokered by the US have been frozen since 2014.

A Hamas gun attack that killed four Israeli civilians outside a West Bank settlement sparked days of violent incursions into Palestinian villages and towns by groups of settlers last week. Twelve suspects have been arrested in the latter incidents, Israeli police said.

“Israel views with gravity the violence inflicted upon Palestinian civilians in recent days by extremist elements," Mr Gallant's office quoted him as telling Mr Al Sheikh.

“Israel would exact full penalty of the law from the rioters,” Mr Gallant added, according to the statement.

There was no immediate comment from Mr Al Sheikh's office.

Israeli forces, which intensified raids against suspected Palestinian militants over the last 15 months, will continue to operate “anywhere required”, Mr Gallant said, while describing a calming of the situation in the West Bank as his common interest with Mr Al Sheikh.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial, also spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday for the occasion of Eid Al Adha, a statement from Mr Herzog's office confirmed.

Mr Herzog “underlined his unequivocal denouncement of the recent assault on innocent Palestinians by extremists”