Washington / PNN / 

The United States described an attack carried out by Israeli settlers that led to the killing of a 19-year-old Palestinian on Friday as "terrorist," escalating its rhetoric towards Israeli far-right violence.

The US State Department's Near Eastern Affairs office condemned the "terrorist attack carried out by an extremist Israeli settler" on Saturday.

On Monday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller stated that this choice of words was not a mistake. He added, "Our reasoning is that it concerns a terrorist attack, and we are concerned about it, so we classified it as such."

He called for "justice to be pursued with the same rigor in all cases of extremist violence, regardless of the perpetrators," welcoming the arrest of Israelis suspected of killing the Palestinian.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Friday evening in a statement the killing of the young man Qosai Jamal Mi'tan (19 years old) by the gunfire of settlers in the village of Burqa east of Ramallah.

Meanwhile, the United Nations pointed out on Friday the significant rise in attacks carried out by settlers in the occupied West Bank against Palestinians and their properties, recording around 600 incidents of this nature since the beginning of 2023.

This year, since its start, has witnessed an escalation of violence between the two sides, with the death toll from attacks, confrontations, and military operations since early January reaching at least 207 Palestinians, in addition to 27 Israelis, Ukrainians, and Italians. These numbers include fighters and civilians, including minors, from the Palestinian side.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. In the West Bank, excluding Jerusalem, around 490,000 Israelis live in settlements considered illegal under international law.