Denies Israel planning to force Palestinians out of Gaza

Huckabee, in West Bank, urges severe consequences for settler violence: ‘Terror is terror’

Visiting Palestinian town, US envoy says it’s in Israel’s interest to take action, and a ‘few hundred’ violent settlers are ‘too many’; separately, settlers reportedly torch Palestinian fields, attack convoy making condolence visit

By ToI Staff and Agencies 5 September 2026, 3:11 pm
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US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (second from left) is greeted by members of the local municipality as he arrives to visit the home of a Palestinian-American resident who has previously been attacked twice and says he faces ongoing harassment from Israeli settlers, in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, on September 5, 2026. (John Wessels/AFP)
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee (second from left) is greeted by members of the local municipality as he arrives to visit the home of a Palestinian-American resident who has previously been attacked twice and says he faces ongoing harassment from Israeli settlers, in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, on September 5, 2026. (John Wessels/AFP)

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called on Saturday for “severe consequences” for violent settlers as he met with Palestinians in the central West Bank.

The meeting in Turmus Ayya included families of Palestinian Americans killed by settlers. The Ramallah-area town, home to a large number of US citizens, has faced repeated settler attacks.

“Our clear message is that crime is crime, terror is terror. When people do it, they should have an expectation that they will have severe consequences,” Huckabee told reporters, adding that “the government has a responsibility” to ensure targeted Palestinians’ safety.

Taking action was also in Israel’s “best interest,” Huckabee said, since “their reputation does not do well when it appears that this tiny little group of marauders are somehow representative of the larger population. I don’t believe that it is.”

“There may be a few hundred who are responsible, but that’s a few hundred too many,” he said.

“I think the Scripture is pretty clear — Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, and thou shalt not even covet,” said Huckabee, a Baptist minister who has long cited his faith as the reason he supports Israel and the settler movement.

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee addresses the press during his visit to the home of an American-Palestinian resident, in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, on September 5, 2026. (John Wessels/AFP)

Huckabee said that the bible was also why he calls the West Bank “Judea and Samaria.”

“The reason I use the terms Judea and Samaria is because they are the ancient biblical terms of this land. Eighty percent of the Bible happened in the era of Judea and Samaria,” he said. “The West Bank is a nebulous term to me.”

Footage from Huckabee’s visit shows settlers riding past in an all-terrain vehicle as the ambassador raises his phone to film them. When someone beside him remarks, “There is no respect for nobody,” he can be heard responding, “Yeah.”

Unnamed sources who were present told Channel 12 news that Huckabee promised to personally send the video to US President Donald Trump.

Huckabee has grown more vocal about settler violence in recent weeks amid the siege settlers imposed on several Palestinian homes, including the home of a Palestinian-American, in the Nablus-area town of Qusra.

The ambassador has called the settlers in Qusra “Israeli terrorists” but said they represent only a small minority of the settler community.

Last week, settlers set fire to a mosque n the village of Bizzariya in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank, and graffitied on a nearby wall: “Regards to Huckabee from the terrorists.”

Palestinians check the damage to a mosque that, according to residents, was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers, in the West Bank village of Bazariya, September 1, 2026, as on its wall a Hebrew graffiti reads “Huckabee regards from the terrorists”, referring to the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, that sparked the war in Gaza.

The attacks occur daily but are rarely prosecuted. Critics accuse the government of condoning and even encouraging the violence, which has led to the displacement of dozens of Palestinian families.

In Turmus Ayya, which is surrounded by several settlements, residents said harassment was common and that they were unable to prevent settlers from entering the town and damaging their homes.

On Friday, a settler was filmed declaring in broken English from atop a home in Turmus Ayya, “You need to understand, this country and this land — Jewish. This is my land. This is my country because Allah promised me.”

The settler was wearing a T-shirt with the logo of Kach, the proscribed organization led by slain extremist rabbi Meir Kahane, of which far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was a member.

Ahead of Huckabee’s visit, Turmus Ayya Mayor Nawwaf Zaghoul told reporters that “we have many issues we will address” with the US ambassador and that residents would be asking to help keep them safe.

About 80% of the town’s roughly 3,000 residents were Palestinian Americans, said Zaghoul.

Also during the visit on Saturday, Huckabee denied Israel was planning to force Palestinians out of Gaza, days after Defense Minister Israel Katz said plans to remove Palestinians from the Strip were merely “frozen” by the White House.

“I can tell you categorically there is no plan of the Israelis to displace people out of Gaza against their will,” Huckabee said.

Settlers reportedly torch Palestinian farmland, attack convoy making condolence visit

The visit by Huckabee came a day after settlers reportedly torched farmland in the central West Bank Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir on Friday evening.

Reporter and activist Andrey Khrzhanovskiy also reported that settlers attacked a convoy of Palestinian vehicles traveling to al-Mughayyir earlier today in order to offer their condolences to the families of two teens shot dead earlier this week by Israeli forces.

The IDF and settlers raided al-Mughayyir on Wednesday after settlers claimed that residents had stolen their livestock. A clash broke out, leading Israeli troops to open fire.

Khrzhanovskiy posted footage from Friday’s attack, which showed two middle-aged men with their shirts and faces bloodied and their vehicle damaged.

The activist-journalist said the settlers blocked the convoy and then proceeded to hurl rocks at the cars, beat the passengers inside with clubs and pepper-spray them. One of the vehicles was also stolen during the attack, Khrzhanovskiy said.

Two men were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, though an ambulance trying to reach the scene was blocked by the settlers, he said.

The IDF eventually arrived at the scene and fired tear gas at Palestinians from al-Mughayyir who had gathered to try and push back the attacking settlers, the activist said.

It was one of many attacks reported throughout the West Bank on Friday.

The Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news site said several Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation during a raid by Israeli soldiers and settlers of the Bedouin Khallat al-Nahla hamlet.

Wafa also said settlers raided several homes in the Bedouin hamlet of Khirbet al-Hamma in the Jordan Valley of the West Bank.

 

There were no reports of any arrests made, and there was no comment from the IDF on any of the incidents.

 

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