Huckabee visits Palestinian West Bank town amid rise in extremist settler violence

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met Palestinian residents of Turmus Aiya, including families of American citizens killed by violent settler extremists. The visit came as settler violence in the West Bank has risen sharply and after recent attacks on the town near Ramallah.

Turmus Aiya residents say unauthorized settlements have been established around the town and that settler extremists regularly enter, harass residents and damage homes. Mayor Nawwaf Zaghoul said residents would ask Huckabee to help secure their safety. He said Palestinian Americans make up about 80% of the town’s roughly 3,000 residents.

“We have many issues that we will address,” Zaghoul told reporters before the meeting, describing what he called constant attacks by violent extremists. Resident Sameer Hazama said, “We are hoping that (the ambassador) will do something for us regarding these lawless settlers.”

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We have many issues that we will address

Huckabee is a Baptist minister and longtime supporter of Israeli settlements. He has nevertheless called for violent settler extremists to be prosecuted, while saying they represent a minority of the wider settler community, which the article puts at around 750,000 people.

Huckabee visited Taiba, one of the few remaining Christian villages in the West Bank, in June 2025 after a church there was vandalized. He called the desecration of a place of worship an act of terror and a crime. He refers to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria, and has visited Shiloh, a settlement near Turmus Aiya, at least twice since 2025.

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We are hoping that (the ambassador) will do something for us regarding these lawless settlers