European diplomats attacked by settlers during West Bank visit

Israeli settlers attacked a European diplomatic delegation visiting the occupied West Bank on Saturday, 17 October, injuring a French mayor and damaging a Belgian consular vehicle, according to ANSA and French news outlets. The group was visiting the area around Taybeh, near Ramallah, when men carrying sticks confronted its vehicles.

ANSA reported that the party included French, Belgian and Polish representatives. Belgian diplomatic personnel were among those present. A French mayor accompanying the visit was injured, BFMTV and Franceinfo reported. The reports did not establish a complete tally of injuries.

An Israeli activist helping Palestinian farmers told ANSA that masked men surrounded vehicles, demanded identification and struck them with sticks. The activist said the group had been assisting a family after olives were stolen from its trees. ANSA reported damage to a vehicle used by Belgium's consulate in Jerusalem.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the incident and said Belgium would continue seeking European Union sanctions against those responsible for settler attacks and their supporters, according to HLN and ANSA. France called on Israeli authorities to identify and arrest those involved, according to ERT News.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the violence but urged caution before conclusions were reached, ANSA reported. Police opened an investigation involving the Israeli foreign ministry. The Israeli military said advance coordination of diplomatic visits was important to prevent incidents, according to the same report.

The attack took place during the olive harvest. ANSA cited Israeli rights organisation Yesh Din as recording 234 episodes of violence in olive groves since the start of the season less than a month earlier. The agency also reported attacks in other West Bank localities that day. These were separate incidents, and the casualty figures from Taybeh should not be applied to them.