Masked Israeli settlers attacked Belgian, French and Polish diplomats, a French mayor and Palestinian civilians near the Christian Palestinian town of Taybeh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday.
On Sunday, Riley Barnes, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, and Brian Burch, US ambassador to the Holy See, visited the Latin Convent church in Taybeh. They were also expected to meet members of the local Christian community. The visit came amid a surge in settler violence across the territory.
On Friday, Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was taken to hospital after being assaulted while covering a Palestinian olive harvest near another West Bank village. By Sunday, Israeli authorities had not announced any arrests.
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar and the Israeli military blamed "Israeli rioters" for Saturday's attack on the diplomats. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the diplomats had entered a "sensitive area with a history of confrontations without prior coordination with the IDF". He also said the facts of the attack on Levine were "unclear".
France urged Israeli authorities to arrest those responsible for Saturday's attack and to end criminal violence in the West Bank.
The US diplomats' visit coincided with US President Donald Trump endorsing Netanyahu for Israel's parliamentary election on October 27. Trump has opposed settlement expansion this year, while his administration has put little pressure on Netanyahu's right-wing, pro-settler government to change its policy.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has been rising. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has recorded at least 170 attacks since September 27. Journalists, activists and foreign observers have also been targeted, and prosecutions of Israeli settlers remain rare.
On Sunday, Reuters saw at least 10 masked settlers dressed in black throwing rocks at Palestinians and activists harvesting olives near the Palestinian town of Salfit. The farmers fled the area. Israeli border police were present and fired tear gas towards the hills.
The West Bank is home to around 500,000 Israeli settlers and at least three million Palestinians. The United Nations and most countries consider Israeli settlements in the territory illegal under international law. Israel rejects this position and argues that the territory is disputed rather than occupied.