Belgium's Consul General in Jerusalem talked about the attacks of Israelis who usurped Palestinian lands

Speaking to Belgium's Flemish public broadcaster VRT, Van Calster said that the delegation consisting of Belgian, French and Polish diplomats, including himself, accompanied Palestinian farmers to participate in the annual olive harvest.

"We are there to deter the settlers. We never seek conflict. The violence has truly reached a new level," Van Calster said. made his assessment.

Stating that the visit of the delegation serves the concrete purpose called "protective presence" in diplomatic circles, Van Calster pointed out that the diplomatic presence aims to deter violent "settlers".

Van Calster explained that they went to the vehicles when they heard "settlers" coming towards them and said, "We are diplomats and not looking for conflict." he said.

Pointing out that the attackers were masked and only their eyes were visible, Van Calster said that his team quickly got into the vehicle and returned to the village.

Van Calster stated that when they returned to the village, they encountered Israeli activists who were attacked by the same "settlers" and said, "We told them, 'We will kill you.' they said. he said.

Emphasizing that the attack on diplomats was a "new escalation", Van Calster explained that more incidents have occurred in the period since the start of the olive harvest than in the entire harvest season of last year.

Regarding the Israeli army's statement that the visit should be coordinated in advance, Van Calster reminded that diplomats do not have to coordinate their visits in advance, in accordance with the Oslo Accords.

Pointing out that the authorities were already aware of the delegation's presence in the region and the threat that had been going on for hours, Van Calster emphasized that they could not be held responsible for the incident.

"Our peaceful presence is to show how dramatic the situation there really is," Van Calster said. he said.

Attack on Western diplomats' vehicles

A group of masked Israelis, who usurped Palestinian lands, attacked the vehicles of French, Belgian and Polish diplomats who were going to harvest olives in the Taybe town of the occupied West Bank on October 17.

In the news in the Israeli press, it was stated that the attackers blocked the vehicles carrying the diplomats, and in the images reflected on social media, it was seen that the windows of the vehicle carrying the Belgian diplomat were broken.

The town of Taybe, located in the northeast of Ramallah and where the majority of the population consists of Palestinian Christians, is known as the only settlement in the region with this feature.

Israelis, who usurped Palestinian lands, frequently target Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank and journalists in the region.

On October 16, Israelis beat and injured Heidi Levine, a photojournalist for The Washington Post newspaper, who was covering the olive harvest in the village of Abu Falah in the West Bank.