Masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats, Catholic representatives and Palestinians in the West Bank village of Taybeh on Saturday, Oct. 17, according to Belgium’s foreign minister. Maxime Prévot wrote on X that he condemned “in the strongest terms” an attack that targeted “Palestinians, our Consul General, French and Polish diplomats as well as catholic representatives.” Reuters calls Taybeh “the Palestinian Christian village of Taybeh,” and both Reuters and the Guardian, which runs an Associated Press report with AFP material, carry Prévot’s account.
The Guardian quotes Prévot saying, after his account of the attack on the mayor and the damaged vehicle: “Our team is safe.” Belgian broadcaster RTBF, in French, names the Belgian consul general as Anick Van Calster and reports that she and a second Belgian diplomat came out of the incident unhurt. RTBF quotes Laurens Soenen, a spokesperson for Prévot’s office, as saying the delegation had joined the olive harvest as a symbolic gesture of support for local people, that several masked settlers armed with sticks attacked it, and that a window of the consul general’s car got smashed as the group tried to leave. This desk translated the RTBF details and quotes no French text directly.
RTBF also reports that Israeli military correspondent Doron Kadosh wrote on X that seven masked men surrounded a diplomatic vehicle with their off-road vehicles, demanded identity papers and broke a window. This desk did not find or read Kadosh’s post and treats that account as reported by RTBF only.
The French mayor, Bernard Baudoux of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, told Reuters he had gone to harvest olives near Taybeh in solidarity with the local community when masked settlers “violently attacked” him. “I was thrown to the ground,” he told the agency. Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewior said on X that a convoy carrying diplomats, including Polish officials, came under attack, Reuters reports, adding that the Polish diplomats escaped harm; the agency quotes him: “Attacks on members of the diplomatic corps are absolutely unacceptable.”
Israeli officials condemned the violence and pointed to the visit’s lack of coordination with the military. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar wrote on X: “I strongly condemn the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters in the area of Taybeh.” In the same post he said police had opened an investigation and that forensic investigators from the Judea and Samaria District had reached the scene to collect evidence. Reuters says Saar also suggested the diplomats should have coordinated their visit with the Israeli military, quoting him: “Such coordination could have helped safeguard the visitors’ security.” According to the Guardian’s AP report, Israel’s military called the attack a “severe act of violence” but said the visit had not gone through coordination with it and no soldiers had stood at the scene.
The Guardian’s AP report carries a police statement: “The Israel police condemns violence of any kind and will work to complete these investigations until everyone who took part in these cases is brought to justice.” Reuters says police announced no detentions right away and notes that prosecutions of settlers over violence against Palestinians in the West Bank remain rare.
Prévot tied the attack to Israeli policy. Reuters quotes his statement on X: “As the occupying power, Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring those responsible to justice. Impunity for violent settlers must end.” Reuters also quotes him saying: “Palestinians face this violence every day. Settlers also target journalists reporting on it and diplomats. Harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack.” The Guardian quotes him adding: “This violence cannot be separated from Israel’s illegal settlement policy.” Reuters says Belgium, which has announced a ban on imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Golan Heights, will press for European Union sanctions “against those responsible for this violence and those who support them.”
Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh condemned the attack and called it a small example of the “daily terrorism” that Palestinians face, Reuters reports. The agency adds that Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have periodically condemned settler violence while saying a small minority carries it out, a characterisation that Palestinians and human rights groups dispute.
The Taybeh attack came a day after another attack during the olive harvest. Reuters says dozens of masked settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives on Friday and that Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, a U.S. citizen covering the harvest, went to hospital after an attack by masked settlers; the Guardian’s AP report says Friday’s attack “seriously injured a Washington Post photographer and others.” Reuters says settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have surged over the past three years, and AP, in the Guardian’s copy, cites activists who say Israeli authorities do little to stop attacks involving weapons “ranging from slingshots to guns.” This desk earlier covered a U.S. lawmaker’s account of detention by armed settlers in the West Bank.
The Guardian’s AP report also places the attacks “less than two weeks before closely contested elections” that, it says, could end Netanyahu’s time in office, and describes his government as facing domestic criticism over security failures and international criticism over its treatment of Palestinians. Reading note: this desk read Prévot’s and Saar’s X posts on X, where both texts read in truncated form; Reuters through Al-Monitor’s copy; AP through the Guardian’s copy, because AP’s own page did not load for this desk; and RTBF in French.
