European diplomats attacked by Israeli settlers in West Bank
Masked Israeli settlers attacked a group of European diplomats visiting the occupied West Bank on Saturday, drawing condemnation from Belgium, Israel’s own military, and the United States.
The diplomats, representing Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church, made the trip to Taybeh, a largely Christian village near Ramallah, so they could assess near-daily settler attacks on Palestinians bringing in their olive harvest. Video filmed at the scene showed masked settlers surrounding their convoy, with reports that stones were thrown. Belgian officials said one of its consulate cars had a window broken, and that a visiting French mayor was physically attacked; in footage that circulated afterwards, he can be seen on the ground beside a vehicle, still wearing his French tricolour sash. The injured Frenchman was subsequently identified by Netanyahu’s office as Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, who told the AFP news agency the assault reflected his government’s tolerance of settler violence: “It’s the gratuitous nature of the violence that stuns me. They arrived completely enraged.” He added: “The whole world needs to know what’s happening there. For me, I’ll go back to my country and everything will be fine. Those who continue to suffer the most are those who are here.”
Maxime Prevot, Belgium’s foreign minister, denounced the incident and argued that Israel, as the occupying power, carried a duty to protect both diplomats and Palestinians. “Palestinians face this violence every day. Settlers also target journalists reporting on it and diplomats. Harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack,” he said, calling for the perpetrators to be brought to justice and for the EU to pursue sanctions against them: “Impunity for violent settlers must end.”
The Israel Defense Forces said they “strongly condemn the severe act of violence” and were investigating, adding that a preliminary inquiry found no IDF soldiers were present when the attack took place. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, also condemned the violence by what he termed “Israeli rioters” and said his ministry was in contact with the ambassadors involved — though he noted that “it is unfortunate that the visit was not coordinated with the IDF in advance. Such coordination could have helped safeguard the visitors’ security.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office struck a more sceptical tone, urging “caution before drawing conclusions” and arguing that circulating images “do not establish the complete sequence of events or individual responsibility” while an investigation by police and forensic teams continues. It suggested the reports formed part of “a coordinated campaign to smear Israel and the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria during the annual olive harvest, relying on sensational headlines before the full facts emerge”.
The attack came a day after a separate assault by settlers on Palestinians and Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine in another West Bank village. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called that incident “disturbing” and “not a good look”, while US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee — a strong supporter of Israel — went further, describing it as a “despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards” who should face “prosecution to the fullest extent of the law”.
Source: BBC News