US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Naides visited a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank on Thursday to express his condolences to the family of the victim of a Palestinian attack, AFP reported.

Shomron Regional Council Yosi Dagan, which governs settlements in the northern West Bank, said the visit took place in Kiryat Netafim.

A US embassy spokeswoman confirmed the visit to AFP, saying it was Naides’ first visit to the settlement since taking over as ambassador in December 2021.

He told the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot last January that he would not visit the settlement.

Accompanied by the president of the Shomron Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, the ambassador visited the family of Tamir Avichai, one of the three victims of the attack committed by a Palestinian on Tuesday near the Ariel settlement, the report said.

Earlier in the day, Nides expressed his condolences in Israel to the families of two other victims of the attack, according to the US Embassy.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian killed three Israeli civilians in the northern West Bank in a stabbing attack and fled. An Israeli soldier then fatally shot him.