Israeli settlers attack a European diplomatic convoy in the West Bank and attack a French mayor

Increasing tension in the West Bank. Israeli settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats who were visiting the occupied West Bank on Saturday, October 17, beating a French mayor, Bernard Baudoux, in a context of intensifying violence against the Palestinian olive harvest. The head of Israeli diplomacy, Gideon Saar, "strongly condemned these serious acts of violence", attributing them to "Israeli rioters", while also reproaching the European consulates concerned for not having coordinated the visit with the Israeli army.

Cars from the French, Belgian and Polish missions had brought diplomats to Taybeh, a predominantly Christian village in the West Bank, when settlers launched a raid to prevent Palestinian farmers from picking olives, witnesses told AFP. They made aggressive statements against the diplomats before kicking Bernard Baudoux, 78, communist mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries (North). “I think that if the settlers act like that, there is tolerance from the Israeli government,” the latter told AFP.

The head of the French Communist Party (PCF) Fabien Roussel denounced, on X, "state terrorism" which "is rampant in Israel". “Full support for my comrade Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, brutally attacked by Israeli settlers while he was helping Palestinians harvest olives,” wrote the presidential candidate.

An open investigation

Belgium, whose consul general was on site, condemned "with the greatest firmness" this attack "perpetrated by masked settlers", through its head of diplomacy. Maxime Prévot confirmed that a “French mayor had been attacked” and specified that a Belgian vehicle had been “damaged”. The Israeli police announced that they had opened an investigation and said they were working to “locate the victims, collect testimonies and identify the suspects, in order to bring them to justice”.