By Idrees Ali
March 9 (Reuters) - The United States is concerned that escalating tensions in the West Bank could distract Tel Aviv and Washington's attention from Iranian activities, a U.S. official said, a message Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin intends to deliver in Israel on Thursday.
Austin delayed his arrival to Israel and the government insisted that the meetings' location be changed because more protests were anticipated against a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government to overhaul the country's court system.
That comes as three Palestinians were killed on Thursday, days after Israeli forces raided a refugee camp in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, killing at least six Palestinian gunmen. Among the dead were a Hamas member suspected of shooting to death two brothers from a Jewish settlement near the village of Huwara.
"Secretary Austin is perfectly capable of having conversations about both issues (West Bank and Iran)," said a senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
But Israel's preoccupation with the West Bank "detracts from our ability to focus on what the strategic threat is right now and that is Iran's dangerous nuclear advances and continuing regional and global aggression," the official said.
Austin is expected to meet Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Netanyahu near the Tel Aviv airport.
The shooting of the two Israeli brothers triggered a revenge attack by Jewish settlers, who killed a Palestinian man and torched dozens of houses and cars in a rampage described as a "pogrom" by a senior Israeli commander.
The rampage triggered worldwide outrage and condemnation, which was increased when ultra-nationalist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has responsibility for aspects of the West Bank administration, said Huwara should be "erased". Smotrich later offered a partial retraction.
Netanyahu sought on Sunday to soften international outcry, saying Smotrich's remarks had been "inappropriate".
"Verbal assurances to do more to reduce the violence are empty without action to do so. The U.S. can play a positive role in assisting only if there is there is a willingness to work for peace from all sides," said Mick Mulroy, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.
There has been no sign of any letup in the violence ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover festival.