US President Joe Biden has condemned retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, AP reported.
He has said he is redoubling his commitment to working toward a two-state solution to end the years-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Biden said the attacks "by extremist settlers" are adding fuel to the fire in the Middle East, where the situation has been tense since the attacks by Hamas.
"It has to end. They must be held accountable. It has to stop now."
Biden has stated that he "did not ask" for Israel to postpone the land occupation of Gaza, as some major foreign media have reported.
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"Israel is right, and I would add responsibility to respond to the massacre of its people."
Biden has accused Hamas leaders of "hiding behind" Palestinian civilians, and that Israel must follow the "laws of war."
"Israel must do everything in its power, however difficult it may be, to protect innocent civilians."
According to foreign media, Biden had pushed the Israeli prime minister to postpone the ground occupation in Gaza, however the president himself has denied it.
Biden also questioned the number of dead in Gaza as reported by the authorities there.
More than 6500 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians, according to the ministry in Gaza.
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But the American president has questioned the numbers.
"I have no indication that the Palestinians are telling the truth about the number of people killed. I'm sure innocents have been killed, and it's the price of war. But I don't believe in the number that the Palestinians gave."
