What’s behind Netanyahu’s condemnation of this weekend’s settler pogroms?

A wave of coordinated Israeli settler attacks swept across the occupied West Bank over the weekend, leaving dozens of Palestinians injured and properties torched.

The pogroms have seen little or no response from Israeli police and soldiers.

Dozens of settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, with tear gas and stones, injuring seven people. A Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance that attempted to reach the besieged families was also attacked.

Simultaneously, Israeli forces fired tear gas during incursions into the Far’a refugee camp, el-Bireh, and al-Mughayyir. Soldiers also attacked journalists in Hebron’s Old City.

A Palestinian family and an American NBC news crew were assaulted in the village of Jalud. In Arrabeh, two Palestinians were also beaten near the Mevo Dotan settlement, in a weekend of violence against locals by Israeli settlers.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the escalation, particularly the 20-day siege on al-Mughayyir, describing it as a systematic policy of forced displacement and colonial expansion.

Israeli politicians have launched a coordinated campaign to minimise the public relations damage after the pogroms.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement strongly condemning the “criminal acts of violence” in Qusra and Jalud, blaming it on a “handful of rioters” who violated the law, interfered with the military, and harmed Israel’s standing in the world.