Israeli settlers attack European diplomats during olive harvest

A group of European diplomats, including the French consul in Jerusalem and representatives of Belgium and Poland, suffered an attack by Israeli settlers this Saturday near Taybeh, a Christian town northeast of Ramallah, while visiting the olive harvest. According to Israeli army broadcaster Galei Tzahal, seven masked settlers arrived on quad bikes and attacked Palestinian farmers picking their olive trees.

The settlers surrounded one of the official cars, demanded that its occupants identify themselves, threw stones at it, and broke a window of the Belgian consulate vehicle. In a video broadcast on social networks, one of the diplomats is seen lying on the ground. According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, one of the injured is the consul general of Belgium. "Another Israeli activist and I arrived at the scene. The settlers blocked our path, surrounded the car and asked us for our identity card. We notified the army in real time, but they neither came nor responded," a witness told Hebrew media.

The Israeli police opened an investigation after the images were disseminated and transferred the case to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to locate the victims, collect their testimonies and identify the aggressors. The army plans to reinforce its division in the West Bank with more combat troops.

The attack comes a day after about eighty masked settlers, some with gas canisters, burned olive trees and hurled stones with slingshots at the residents of Abu Falah, also near Ramallah, during the harvest.

Among the injured is Heidi Levine, an American photojournalist for The Washington Post. The images show her lying on a dirt road, with her hands over her face, while at least three settlers surround her. “The settlers want to attack us and throw us out of our homes,” denounced Moutaz Abdelhadi, a 42-year-old farmer who witnessed the assault.

"They attacked me and threw me to the ground. Luckily I was wearing the bulletproof vest and helmet. If not, I probably wouldn't even be here, because they wouldn't stop kicking me," Levine explained from the hospital.

The reporter suffered lacerations all over her body and a broken rib, and had to undergo surgery on her hand after a finger was split open to the bone. The newspaper's executive director, Matt Murray, recalled that the photographer was wearing visible press badges and demanded an investigation. The US State Department condemned the violence.

The Israeli Army assured that its soldiers fired warning shots upon reaching Abu Falah and described the attacks against civilians as “serious and unacceptable.” That same morning, in neighboring Turmus Ayya, settlers burned three cars after attacking a group of farmers.

According to the Israeli organization Yesh Din, settlers have carried out at least 170 attacks since September 27, when the olive campaign began in practice. Prime Minister Beniamin Netanyahu's office said the Levine assault case is under investigation.