Settler Violence Targets European Delegation in West Bank

European diplomats and other visitors said they were attacked by Israeli settlers near Taybeh in the occupied West Bank on Saturday. Israeli police opened an investigation after video circulated online that appeared to show several diplomats being confronted. Police said they were seeking the victims and suspects, while Israel’s military condemned the incident as a severe act of violence and said the visit had not been coordinated with it and no soldiers were present at the scene. Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that the delegation included representatives from France, Belgium and Poland. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also condemned violence against diplomats but urged caution, arguing that online footage did not establish the full sequence of events or who was responsible. It said the delegation entered a sensitive area without military coordination and suggested the reports could be part of a campaign to smear Israel and Jewish residents of the West Bank. Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said the Belgian consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives were targeted; he reported that a French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle damaged. Aulnoye-Aymeries Mayor Bernard Baudoux said attackers kicked and beat him with iron bars, although he was not seriously injured. Poland’s foreign ministry said its representatives were unharmed and that preliminary information suggested settlers may have been responsible, while noting there was no indication they had been specifically targeted. The article places the incident amid a rise in settler violence against Palestinians, particularly during the annual olive harvest, citing United Nations humanitarian-office statistics. It reports that activists and human rights groups accuse authorities of failing to prevent attacks and question the government’s enforcement record, while Netanyahu has described the perpetrators as a small group and vowed action. The report also describes a separate attack on Friday that seriously injured American photojournalist Heidi Levine. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee called for a full investigation and prosecution of those responsible. Israeli police and military said they were investigating that incident as well.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians, Catholic representatives, and European diplomats and officials in Taybeh, a predominantly Christian village in the occupied West Bank. Those reportedly targeted included the Belgian consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France. A Belgian diplomatic vehicle was also damaged. Israeli police said they had opened an investigation, while the Israeli military said the diplomats’ visit had not been coordinated with it and that no soldiers were present. Witnesses told reporters that diplomatic vehicles had brought officials to Taybeh, where settlers came to prevent Palestinians from gathering olives. Masked men allegedly surrounded a diplomatic vehicle with off-road vehicles, demanded identification, and smashed a window. Baudoux and diplomats told AFP that he was beaten. Baudoux said attackers kicked and struck him with iron bars, leaving him with minor injuries. He was visiting with the French consul general and a priest to sign a goodwill cooperation agreement between Taybeh and his town. He described the violence as gratuitous and said it raised concerns about Israeli government tolerance of settler behavior. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called on Israeli authorities to arrest those responsible and protect civilians, citing their obligations under international law. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also condemned the violence, calling the assailants “rioters,” while faulting the diplomats for not coordinating their visit with the military. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, in turn, rejected what it described as a campaign to smear Israel and Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, arguing that reports were relying on sensational headlines before the facts were established. The incident took place during a particularly violent olive harvest season, in which settlers have used force to prevent Palestinians from harvesting crops. The article also notes that Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine was injured in a settler attack the previous day. It places the violence in the context of Israel’s election campaign, during which Netanyahu has championed the settlers’ cause in an effort to attract their support.

Masked Israeli settlers attacked a group of European diplomats and Catholic representatives visiting Taybeh, a village northeast of Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said. Those targeted included Belgium’s consul general and French and Polish diplomats. Prevot reported that a French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle damaged, while his team was safe. He blamed Israel’s settlement policy, which he described as illegal, and said he would press for further European Union sanctions. He also called on Israel, as the occupying power, to protect Palestinians and said violent settlers must no longer enjoy impunity. Israel’s military described the incident as a severe act of violence but said the visit had not been coordinated with it and no soldiers were present. Israeli police opened an investigation and said they would seek to bring those involved to justice. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the violence and said his ministry was in contact with the countries’ ambassadors. The incident came after settlers attacked at least eight Palestinian villages in the northern West Bank on Friday. The article places the assaults in the context of the annual olive harvest, a period when Palestinian farmers face increased settler violence while trying to reach their land. The United Nations recorded 178 attacks linked to the 2025 harvest. Since this year’s harvest began, at least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The report also notes that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces closely contested elections in less than two weeks, alongside growing criticism of his government’s security policies and treatment of Palestinians.

Israeli settlers attacked a convoy carrying a European delegation in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, beating Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France. Baudoux said masked attackers insulted France, kicked him and struck him with iron bars as he joined Palestinian olive farmers during the harvest near Taybeh, a Christian town. He was seen collapsed beside a vehicle but did not require hospital treatment. The delegation included senior French and Belgian representatives in Jerusalem and Polish diplomats. A local priest said settlers had first attacked the harvest and taken olives, and that other people, including an older woman, were also beaten. The incident followed other attacks during the olive harvest, including the beating of a Washington Post photographer, who was hospitalized with broken vertebrae, and an earlier assault on an AFP photographer. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot urged Israel to arrest those responsible, stop what he called criminal violence, and protect civilians under international law. Belgium also called for an end to impunity for violent settlers. Israel’s foreign ministry condemned the attack and police said they would investigate. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a smear campaign against settlers and said the diplomats should have coordinated their movements with the military. His office urged caution before drawing conclusions, while noting Baudoux’s political views. Netanyahu’s main election rival, Gadi Eisenkot, condemned the violence, calling it Jewish terrorism enabled by the government and warning it was damaging Israel’s legitimacy. President Isaac Herzog separately called the injured photographer to express his outrage. A leader of a settler umbrella group blamed provocateurs and terrorists, while acknowledging that such actions harmed the settlers’ cause. The article places the attacks amid growing violence against Palestinians during the olive harvest, when extremist Israelis have called for the harvest to be stopped. It notes that olives hold cultural significance for Palestinians, that settlers have taken land and property, and that a Palestinian shot and killed a settler the previous month. It also reports that Israel’s government has expanded approval of West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law, and that around 500,000 Israelis and three million Palestinians live in the territory Israel seized in 1967.