Masked Settlers Assault European Diplomats in Occupied West Bank

JERUSALEM — Masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats during a visit to the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgium’s foreign minister said, marking the second consecutive day of high-profile assaults on Palestinians and others during the sensitive olive harvest.

At least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest began earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Activists allege that Israeli authorities do little to stop attacks involving weapons ranging from slingshots to guns. An attack on Friday seriously injured a Washington Post photographer and others.

In Saturday’s attack in the Christian village of Taybeh, settlers targeted Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot.

“A French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle damaged. Our team is safe,” Prevot said. He linked the attack to what he described as Israel’s “illegal settlement policy” and pledged to push for further European Union sanctions. “Impunity for violent settlers must end,” he added.

Video shared by an activist at the scene, Amit Orfali, showed the French mayor, wearing a tricolor sash, leaning against a vehicle while sitting on the dusty ground. Other clips showed young masked men knocking insistently on a driver’s side window and asking for IDs, while other masked men carrying sticks advanced in the distance. Orfali stated that the masked men “threatened to kill us.”

The attacks occurred less than two weeks before closely contested elections that could end Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s tenure in office. His government, the most nationalist and far-right in Israel’s history, faces domestic criticism over security failures and international criticism over the treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. Some of the government’s senior officials are themselves settlers.

Israel’s military confirmed Saturday’s attack on the diplomats in a statement, calling it a “severe act of violence,” but noted that the visit had not been coordinated with it and no soldiers were present at the scene.

Israeli police said they had opened an investigation and vowed to work “until everyone who took part in these cases is brought to justice.” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on X condemned the “severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters,” adding that his ministry was in contact with ambassadors from the countries concerned.

However, Netanyahu’s office later issued a statement warning against “premature conclusions” in the incident and raised concerns about “a coordinated campaign to smear Israel.”

Netanyahu’s main electoral rival, Gadi Eisenkot, stated on X that “a handful of criminals is burning up the last shreds of legitimacy left to the state of Israel.” Eisenkot labeled the violence as “Jewish terror” — the same term used by Heidi Levine, a photographer for The Washington Post, when speaking to The Associated Press from her hospital bed.

“I’ve been covering this region for over 40 years, and I have never seen this country in such a state as it is today,” Levine said. She added that she was “shocked and insulted” that Netanyahu had referred to the attack on her and others as an alleged incident.

The United Nations and much of the international community consider the settlements in the West Bank to be illegally occupied. Settlers have established hundreds of additional outposts without government authorization, while still enjoying protection from the Israeli military.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with Gaza and East Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war, territories that the Palestinians seek for a future independent state.

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