JERUSALEM: US Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Saturday demanded that Israel prosecute and jail the assailants in a West Bank settler attack against a Washington Post journalist.

"Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards," Huckabee wrote on X, taking a far stronger tone than an earlier statement from Washington.

Huckabee, a staunch ally of Israel who has nonetheless sharply criticised settler attacks against Americans, did not identify the culprits as settlers, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to sow doubt as to their identity.

"Details of who under investigation, but those who attacked unarmed reporter should spend (years) in prison," Huckabee said.