Israel's president says 'shocking' settler violence against Palestinians must end

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's president and high-ranking military officials on Wednesday condemned attacks a day earlier by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, calling for an end to a growing wave of settler violence in the occupied territory.

President Isaac Herzog described the attacks as “shocking and serious,” adding a rare and powerful voice to what has been muted criticism by top Israeli officials of the settler violence. Herzog's position, while largely ceremonial, is meant to serve as a moral compass and unifying force for the country.

Herzog said the violence committed by a “handful” of perpetrators “crosses a red line," adding in a social media post that “all state authorities must act decisively to eradicate the phenomenon."

His remarks, and those of two high-ranking military officials, came after dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf in the West Bank on Tuesday, setting fire to vehicles and other property before clashing with Israeli soldiers.

In other developments Wednesday:

— Israel reopened a crossing into the northern Gaza Strip that had been closed for two months. The move was welcomed by officials at the United Nations, who say Israel has been too slow in surging humanitarian aid to the territory since a ceasefire began last month. Aid has been delivered into Gaza since Oct. 10 through two crossings in southern and central Gaza.

— The Israeli military said it killed four armed militants who posed an “immediate threat” in areas of southern Gaza under its control. In Khan Younis, one person was killed while approaching Israeli troops across the so-called yellow line. In Rafah, three people were killed while troops in the area were working to destroy underground tunnels.

The Israeli army's chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, echoed Herzog's condemnations of the West Bank violence, saying the military “will not tolerate the phenomena of a minority of criminals who tarnish a law-abiding public.”

He said the army is committed to stopping violent acts committed by settlers, which he described as contrary to Israeli values and that “divert the attention of our forces from fulfilling their mission."

The chief of the military's Central Command, Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, said responding to an “anarchist fringe” requires the use of significant resources that could otherwise be focused on bolstering security and conducting counterterrorism operations.

The army said the settlers who attacked the villages fled to a nearby industrial zone and attacked soldiers responding to the violence, damaging a military vehicle. Police said four Israelis were arrested, while the military said four Palestinians were wounded.

On Wednesday, police said three of the suspects were released and that one, a minor arrested on suspicion of arson and assault, will remain in custody for six more days, as ordered by a judge. Police said the actions of the three who were released are still under investigation “with the goal of bringing offenders to justice, regardless of their background.”

Tuesday's violence in the West Bank was the latest in a series of attacks by young settlers that have surged since the war in Gaza erupted two years ago. The attacks have intensified in recent weeks as Palestinians harvest their olive trees in an annual ritual.

The U.N. humanitarian office last week reported more Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank in October than in any other month since it began keeping track in 2006. There were over 260 attacks, the office said.

Palestinians and human rights workers accuse the Israeli army and police of failing to halt attacks by settlers. Israel’s government is dominated by far-right proponents of the settler movement including Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who formulates settlement policy, and Cabinet minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the nation's police force.

Muayyad Shaaban, who heads an office in the Palestinian Authority that is tracking the violence, said the settlers set fire to four dairy trucks, farmland, tin shacks and tents belonging to a Bedouin community.

He said the attacks were part of a campaign to drive Palestinians from their land and accused Israel of giving the settlers protection and immunity. He called for sanctions against groups that “sponsor and support the colonial settlement terrorism project.”

In Beit Lid, residents said they don't want their lives ruled by fear of settler violence.

Mahmoud Edeis said the violence is undermining his family's right to live in safety.

“To feel that my children are safe, that when I go to sleep I can say, ‘OK, there’s nothing (to worry about),’” he said. "But at any moment something could happen … This can’t go on. It can’t be that we keep living our whole lives in a state of fear and danger.”

Amjad Amer Al-Juneidi, who works at a dairy factory that was attacked Tuesday, said the “fully organized” attack saw one person carrying gasoline-filled cans, another prying open the factory door with a crowbar and a third individual igniting the fuel.

“Their entry into the company wasn’t random. It was organized, and they had a fully organized tactic for how to carry out the burning," Al-Juneidi said.

While U.N. officials welcomed the Israeli decision to reopen the Zikim crossing into northern Gaza, they also reiterated criticism of Israel for not doing more.

Stéphane Dujarric, the U.N. spokesperson, said Wednesday that humanitarian groups in Gaza are being hampered in their ability to distribute food once it arrives in the territory and having to “stretch out the available stocks.”

The demand for baby formula, for example, far exceeds the current supply, UNICEF spokesperson Ricardo Pires told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Pires said there are also concerns about whether there will be enough syringes to carry out a vaccination campaign that began this month and will continue into January.

The Israeli agency in charge of humanitarian aid in Gaza, COGAT, said in a statement on Tuesday that “Israel is fully committed to its obligation to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid trucks in accordance with the (ceasefire) agreement.”

Later Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Gaza ceasefire “is fragile, is repeatedly violated, but it is holding”

Guterres strongly appealed for the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel “to be fully respected and to pave the way for the negotiations of Phase Two, leading to the creation of the conditions for the self-determination of the Palestinian people and the creation of the two-state solution.”

Associated Press report Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, and Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo, contributed reporting.

Find more of AP’s Israel-Hamas coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Members of the Hamamdeh family gather their belongings after Israeli authorities demolished their home in the West Bank village of Masafer Yatta Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Palestinians survey damage in an industrial zone following an attack by Israeli settlers the previous day in the West Bank village of Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians survey damage in an industrial zone following an attack by Israeli settlers the previous day in the West Bank village of Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians survey damage in an industrial zone following an attack by Israeli settlers the previous day in the West Bank village of Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians and journalists survey damage in an industrial zone following an attack by Israeli settlers the previous day in the West Bank village of Beit Lid, near Tulkarm, Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to revive his struggling government but faced growing calls to resign after a disastrous set of local and regional elections for his Labour Party.

As the final results came in Saturday, Labour suffered a net loss of more than 1,100 local council seats across England, lost control of several local authorities it had held for decades and was booted from power in Wales after 27 years. Anti-immigration party Reform UK gained over 1,300 seats across England and made significant gains in legislative elections in Wales and Scotland.

It was a blunt verdict from voters in elections widely seen as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he led the center-left party to power less than two years ago.

Here are five things we’ve learned from the elections.

Starmer insisted he would not walk away and "plunge the country into chaos,” and the dire election results did not produce an immediate challenge to his leadership.

"The right thing to do is rebuild and show the path forward,” Starmer said Saturday. “That’s what I’m going to do in the coming days.”

Starmer’s Cabinet colleagues expressed support, and none of the high-profile Labour politicians considered potential challengers has made a move. Health Secretary Wes Streeting, former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham are keeping quiet for now.

But a growing number of Labour lawmakers urged the prime minister to set a timetable for his departure this year. British politics allows parties to change leader midterm without the need for a new election.

“There has to be a timetable,” legislator Clive Betts told the BBC. Another lawmaker, Tony Vaughan, said there should be an “orderly transition of leadership.”

Starmer tried to demonstrate change on Saturday by bringing back two figures from past Labour governments. He made former Prime Minister Gordon Brown a special envoy on global finance, and appointed the party's ex-deputy leader Harriet Harman an adviser on women and girls.

Starmer is due to make a speech on Monday in an attempt to regain momentum, before the government sets out its legislative plans on Wednesday in a speech delivered by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

The elections were a breakthrough for Reform UK, the latest hard-right party led by the veteran nationalist politician Nigel Farage.

Running on an anti-establishment and anti-immigration message, the party won hundreds of local council seats in working-class areas in England’s north, such as Sunderland, that were solid Labour turf for decades. It also made gains from the Conservatives in areas like the county of Essex, east of London, and increased its vote share in Wales and Scotland, new terrain for the party.

Farage said the results marked a “historic change in British politics.” He said he's confident that “voters who have come to us are not doing it as a short-term protest.”

Reform UK currently holds just eight of the 650 seats in the House of Commons and it’s unclear whether it could repeat its success in a national election.

The elections produced semiautonomous administrations in Scotland and Wales led by parties devoted to independence and the breakup of the United Kingdom — though neither has that policy on the front burner.

The Scottish National Party, which has governed in Edinburgh since 2007, won another term but fell short of a majority, meaning an independence referendum is unlikely. Labour and Reform tied in a distant second place.

Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) won the most seats in the Cardiff-based legislature, the Senedd. The party, which has an ambition for Wales to leave the U.K. but no plan to do so anytime soon, fell short of a majority but will likely form the new government. Reform came second and Labour a distant third in one of its most historic heartlands, with outgoing First Minister Eluned Morgan losing her seat.

The economy lies at the heart of Labour’s troubles, as it does for many incumbent governments.

Since ending 14 years of Conservative rule roiled by austerity and the COVID-19 pandemic, Labour has struggled to ease the cost of living and jump-start a sluggish economy against the tough economic backdrop of war in Ukraine and, more recently, Iran. Starmer also has angered supporters with attempts to cut welfare spending, some of which were reversed after Labour revolts.

Some in Labour say the government's achievements, including protections for renters and a higher minimum wage, are going unnoticed. Many blame Starmer, an uninspiring leader distracted by scandals including his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

But Stephen Houghton, the outgoing leader of Barnsley council in northern England, where Labour lost to Reform, said the problem “goes deeper than the prime minister.”

“This has been coming for 30 years around the country, in post-industrial communities, coastal communities, that have been left behind,” he said. “You can change prime ministers all day long. If you don’t change policy, it’s not going to change.”

The results reflect a fragmentation of U.K. politics after decades of domination by Labour and the Conservative Party, which also suffered major losses on Thursday.

The elections offered voters a rainbow of choices, including the centrist Liberal Democrats and the nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales.

But the big winners were populist insurgents, Reform UK and the Green Party, whose focus has expanded from the environment to social justice and the Palestinian cause under self-described “eco populist” leader Zack Polanski. The Greens won hundreds of council seats from Labour in urban centers and university towns and took control of several local authorities.

Tony Travers, professor of government at the London School of Economics, said the results suggest the next national election, due by 2029, won’t produce a majority for any party.

“So then you’re in the world of, after the election, two or three big minority parties trying to work out how they would govern,” he said — something traditionally considered “very un-British.”

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney with some of the newly elected SNP MSPs in Edinburgh, Saturday May 9, 2026, following the 2026 Holyrood elections. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaking to the media after meeting Labour Party members during a visit to AFC Wimbledon in south London, Saturday May 9, 2026. (Maja Smiejkowska/PA via AP)

Observers from the Scottish National Party (SNP) watch as votes are counted for the 2026 Holyrood elections, at Dewars Centre in Perth, Scotland, Friday May 8, 2026. (Jane Barlow/PA via AP)

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage speaks to supporters at Chelmsford City Racecourse, Friday May 8, 2026, in Essex, England, following the 2026 local election results. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks to Labour Party members at Kingsdown Methodist Church Hall, in Ealing, west London, Friday May 8, 2026, a day after the local elections. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)