Middle East Region Report

A delegation of European diplomats from Belgium, France and Poland, along with Catholic Church representatives, was attacked on Saturday, Oct. 17, in Taybeh, a largely Christian Palestinian village near Ramallah, according to the BBC and the Associated Press. The group had come to see the olive harvest, which has seen near-daily settler violence this month.

Video showed masked men confronting the convoy, and Belgian authorities said a consulate car had a window smashed. French mayor Bernard Baudoux of Aulnoye-Aymeries said he was hit with metal bars and kicked to the ground, and said afterward that he was fine. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the attack, said “impunity for violent settlers must end,” and said Belgium will press for more EU sanctions.

The IDF said it “strongly condemns the severe act of violence” by “Israeli rioters,” and that police and forensic investigators were entering the area. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also condemned it, but said the visit had not been coordinated with the IDF in advance. Israel Police said they opened an investigation once they received the footage.

In a long statement, the Prime Minister’s Office called any violence against diplomats unacceptable but urged caution before drawing conclusions. It said the footage “does not establish the complete sequence of events or individual responsibility,” noted the visit was uncoordinated, and said the reports come amid what it called a coordinated campaign to smear Israel and Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria during the harvest.

By Sunday morning no suspects had been arrested. Police officials told Ynet the diplomats' missions had not provided testimony, footage or access to the vehicles. Channel 12 (N12) reported that the IDF and police are trading blame, and that a new Border Police company will work on preventing nationalist crime in the West Bank.