A delegation of European diplomats visited the Palestinian town of Kafr Malik in the occupied West Bank on Monday to assess the aftermath of a deadly attack by illegal Israeli settlers.
Three Palestinians were killed and seven wounded last Wednesday when Israeli settlers stormed Kafr Malik, located northeast of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Palestine’s official news agency Wafa reported at the time that dozens of settlers attacked the town, set Palestinian vehicles on fire and were confronted by local residents and people from nearby villages.
Laila Ghannam, the governor of Ramallah and Al-Bireh, said in a statement posted on her Facebook page that the visiting delegation included around 20 ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from the European Union as well as the ambassadors of Canada and the UK. The delegation toured damaged homes and burned vehicles and met with families of the victims.
Ghannam told the diplomats the assault was part of “a systematic Israeli policy adopted by the extremist occupation government” led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
She accused the Israeli officials of “giving full political cover to settler militias as part of a broader strategy to uproot Palestinians from their land.”
Ghannam called on the EU to take “concrete political action beyond writing reports,” warning that the international community’s inaction has emboldened Israeli forces and illegal settlers as “two sides of the same coin” to continue committing crimes against Palestinians.
EU Representative to Palestine Alexandre Stutzmann said the delegation was “deeply shocked and disturbed” by what they saw in Kafr Malik.
“No one should be killed in their home, have their property vandalized or their vehicles burned, or be forced to live in fear in their own village,” Stutzmann said. “This violence must stop immediately, and those responsible must be held accountable. These crimes cannot go unpunished.”
He said the visit was intended to express the EU’s solidarity with the Palestinian people “from a place of humanitarian responsibility.”
Stutzmann added that illegal settler violence has reached “unacceptable levels” and reaffirmed the EU’s position that Israeli settlements are a clear violation of international law and a major obstacle to peace. He reiterated that the EU supports a two-state solution as the only viable path to ending the conflict.
Illegal Israeli settlers have stepped up their attacks against Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission documented 415 settler attacks on Palestinians and their properties in May alone, ranging from armed attacks to land destruction, tree uprooting and forced closures.
Since the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza in October 2023, at least 986 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The International Court of Justice last July declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
