Belgium and France condemn settler attack on European diplomats in occupied West Bank

Belgium and France condemned an attack by masked Israeli settlers on European diplomats and a visiting French mayor in Taybeh, a mostly Christian Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday 17 October.

The group, which included the Belgian consul general, French and Polish diplomats and the archbishop of Cambrai, had joined Palestinians harvesting olives. Settlers smashed a window of a Belgian diplomatic car and knocked Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, to the ground, The Guardian and DW reported. Baudoux told AFP he had minor injuries.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the attack “in the strongest terms” and said Belgium would keep pushing for EU sanctions on settlers. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called on Israel to arrest those responsible.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the “severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters”, but said the diplomats had not coordinated their visit with the military. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office warned of “a coordinated campaign to smear Israel” and settlers, “relying on sensational headlines before the full facts emerge”. Israeli police said they had opened an investigation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Washington was “very disturbed” by footage of an attack on Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine in the West Bank on Friday. He said the US had asked Israel to “crack down on that stuff”.

Background

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. Violence during the annual olive harvest has risen this year. Israeli rights group Yesh Din has counted more than 170 settler attacks since 27 September, The Guardian reported. Palestinian authorities say at least four people have been killed. Israel holds elections later this month.