Army chief Eyal Zamir says Israel will ‘not tolerate criminal behaviour’ as US expresses concern settler violence may undermine Gaza ceasefire.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and army chief Eyal Zamir have condemned burgeoning Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in a rare public rebuke of what has become a daily cycle of violence often backed by the Israeli military.

Herzog on Wednesday described the attacks as “shocking and serious,” adding a rare and powerful voice to what has been heavily muted criticism by top Israeli officials of the settler violence, which involves killings and beatings of civilians and destruction of their property.

On Thursday, a group of Israeli settlers vandalised a mosque near the town of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

Quoting a local activist, the agency reported that Israeli settlers poured flammable material at the entrance of the mosque and wrote racial slurs on its walls. The report said residents helped put the fire out before it spread through the mosque.

Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the West Bank on Tuesday, setting fire to vehicles and other property before fighting with Israeli soldiers.

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.”