Polish diplomats caught in masked settler attack in West Bank

Masked settlers attacked a group of European diplomats on a visit to the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said. The assault in the Christian village of Taybeh targeted Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives. It was the second straight day of high-profile attacks on Palestinians and others during the olive harvest.

Prevot said a French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle was damaged, and that the Belgian team was safe. He tied the attack to what he called Israel’s “illegal settlement policy,” said he would push for further European Union sanctions, and added: “Impunity for violent settlers must end.”

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

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

Israel’s military confirmed Saturday’s attack on the diplomats, called it a “severe act of violence,” and said the visit had not been coordinated with it and that no soldiers were at the scene. Israeli police said they had opened an investigation and vowed to work until everyone who took part is brought to justice. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned “severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters” and said his ministry was in contact with ambassadors from the countries concerned.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later warned against “premature conclusions” and raised concerns about “a coordinated campaign to smear Israel.” His main election rival, Gadi Eisenkot, wrote that “a handful of criminals is burning up the last shreds of legitimacy left to the state of Israel” and called the violence “Jewish terror.” Photographer Heidi Levine, speaking from her hospital bed, used the same term and said she was “shocked and insulted” that Netanyahu referred to the attack on her and others as an alleged one. She said she had covered the region for more than 40 years and had never seen the country in such a state.

The attacks came less than two weeks before closely contested elections that could end Netanyahu’s time in office. His government, described as the most nationalist and far-right in Israel’s history, includes senior officials who are settlers. The U.N. and much of the international community consider West Bank settlements illegally occupied. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 war, territories the Palestinians want for a future state.