Netanyahu condemns rioters after West Bank violence

Israel's prime minister has spoken out after weeks of settler violence in the occupied West Bank and condemned the actions of a "handful of rioters".

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned criminal acts by a "handful of rioters" he said did injustice to the "law-abiding settler public".

Radical Israeli settlers attacked members of a US television crew and a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported on Saturday.

A man and a woman were reportedly injured in the incident. The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the incident took place in the village of Jalud, south of Nablus. NBC News reported that several journalists from the US broadcaster had been attacked.

The journalists had accompanied a family to their home, which they had been forced to leave some time ago. WAFA reported that the settlers had smashed the windscreen of the vehicle in which staff from the US broadcaster NBC News were travelling.

""They jumped out, beat us, then jumped back in the car," NBC News international correspondent Matt Bradley said. He was hit twice in the arm and later treated at a nearby clinic.

The Israeli army stated that security forces were also deployed in Jalud "to prevent further unrest and restore order in the region". It condemned "all forms of violence in the strongest possible terms".

Netanyahu's statement follows over two weeks of unrest in the town of Qusra, where settlers have surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American.

In an unusually sharp statement, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee referred to the settlers as "terrorists", a word US officials usually reserve for Palestinian militants.

Earlier on Saturday, Israel's military and police said Israeli rioters arrived in the Qusra area and violent clashes followed.

They said dozens of rioters barricaded themselves in a Palestinian home while residents were inside. They said the groups were separated and rioters' vehicles were confiscated.

Qusra Mayor Abdel Azim Wadi told AP that two inhaled tear gas and two others were hurt when settlers threw stones. He said the house targeted was no longer under siege.

"The actions of these violent extremists are a disgrace and stand in complete contradiction to the values of the State of Israel," the foreign ministry said in a statement.