West Bank: Israeli settlers attack EU diplomats, French mayor

Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Saturday that masked settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank had attacked Palestinians, Catholic representatives, and Western diplomats and officials.

Prevot said that the Belgian consul general and French and Polish diplomats, as well as a French mayor, were among those attacked.

In a post on X, he condemned "in the strongest terms" the attack in which a Belgian vehicle was also damaged.

Israeli police said they have opened an investigation into the alleged assault of diplomats in the occupied West Bank.

In a separate statement, the Israeli military said the visit was not coordinated with them and there were no soldiers present.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office reacted to the incident by criticizing an alleged a "smear" campaign against settlers.

"These reports come amid concerns about 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," his office said in a statement, using the biblical name for the West Bank.

What do we know about the incident

According to witnesses, cars from the French, Belgian, and Polish embassies had brought diplomats to visit Taybeh, a predominantly Christian village in the occupied West Bank.

Settlers then descended upon the area to prevent Palestinians from gathering olives.

Masked men reportedly surrounded a diplomatic vehicle with their off-road vehicles, then demanded identification and smashed a window.

A witness and two diplomats also told the AFP new agency that the settlers beat up Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old leftist mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, a town in northern France.

French mayor says attackers were 'completely enraged'

Badoux told AFP that he was fine, having suffered minor injuries, but he expressed concern about the residents in the area.

"The whole world needs to know what's happening there," Badoux said.

Badoux said he was visiting Taybeh with the French consul general in Jerusalem, along with a priest from his home parish, to sign a goodwill cooperation agreement with his city, which has an olive emblem.

The mayor, who was wearing a sash in the French tricolour, said that the settlers kicked him and beat him with iron bars, throwing him to the ground.

"It's the gratuitous nature of the violence that stuns me," he said. "They arrived completely enraged."

"It's absolutely incredible that settlers can behave like this," he said. "I think that if settlers are behaving like this, there is a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government," he added.

Israel FM condemns 'rioters'

In a rare statement critical of settlers, which was released before Netanyahu's statement, Israel's foreign minister condemned the attack by Israeli "rioters" on the European diplomatic delegation in the West Bank.

"I strongly condemn the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters in the area of Taybeh," said Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, who also faulted the diplomats for not coordinating with the Israeli military.

The West Bank has experienced an especially violent olive harvest season this year. Israeli settlers have tried to stop Palestinians from harvesting their crops by using physical force.

Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine was injured on Friday when she was attacked by a group of Israeli settlers while reporting in the occupied West Bank.

This violence is occurring during the final days of the election campaign. In hopes of gaining their support in the upcoming election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has championed the cause of the settlers.

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez