Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel won't tolerate Jewish extremists taking the law into their own hands, as he visited the West Bank amid concerns over escalating violence between Jewish settlers and Palestinians in the occupied territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greeted a soldier this week at an Israeli army base in Tzeelim, Israel.

“There is a tiny handful of people who do not represent the public here, who take the law into their own hands," Netanyahu said. "We cannot tolerate this, we are not ready to accept this, we will act against it in all ways. This causes heavy international damage to the state of Israel, and it does not represent the public here. I condemn it and we will act against it."

The comments came amid a surge in attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank since Hamas's Oct. 7 assault on Israel from Gaza. Israeli troops and armed settlers have killed at least 150 Palestinians since then, according to the United Nations' humanitarian-affairs agency. Three Israelis have been killed in the West Bank in attacks by Palestinians. A further 1,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes in the West Bank amid settler attacks, according to the U.N.