“Any act that would destabilize a process of negotiation and conclusion of an agreement, especially regarding a cease-fire” in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages held in the Palestinian territory at war, “is unacceptable and even more unacceptable in this time in which we live ”, said Mr. Séjourné.
The head of French diplomacy made these remarks alongside British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, with whom he had earlier met with their Israeli counterpart, Israel Katz.
In a press release, the Quai d'Orsay condemned “in the strongest terms the attack on settlers carried out yesterday in Jit”, a village west of Nablus in the northern West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
“The repetition and violence of these attacks, which are only increasing, reveal the climate of impunity in which the actions of violent settlers take place,” the statement added, demanding that “Israel immediately take all necessary measures to protect the Palestinian population and bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice hateful.”
“The images from that night of buildings on fire, Molotov cocktails being thrown at cars […] of people being prosecuted for leaving their homes is abject,” Mr Lammy said.
Civil evacuations
On Friday morning, residents of Jit told AFP that dozens of Jewish settlers armed with knives or firearms descended on their village on Thursday night, burning houses and cars, before a 23-year-old man fell, hit killed by a bullet.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, another Palestinian was seriously wounded “by settlers' bullets.”
Asked by AFP, an Israeli army spokesman indicated that around 20:00 (17:00 GMT), “dozens of Israeli civilians, some of them masked, [étaient] entered in […] Jit, [avaient] they set fire to vehicles and infrastructure in the area and threw stones and Molotov cocktails.”
Sent to the scene, soldiers and members of the border police “evacuated Israeli civilians from the city,” the spokesman added, adding that “an Israeli civilian who took part in the violent riot. [avait] he was detained and transferred to the Israeli police for questioning.