{"id":2912,"date":"2026-10-18T17:03:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T12:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2912"},"modified":"2026-10-18T17:03:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T12:03:49","slug":"israeli-settlers-attack-palestinians-european-diplomats-in-west-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2912","title":{"rendered":"Israeli settlers attack Palestinians, European diplomats in West Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians, European \u200cdiplomats and a French mayor in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgium\u2019s foreign minister said, a day after settlers beat an American photojournalist<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maxime Prevot said Belgium\u2019s consul general to the Palestinians, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives were among those attacked. A Belgian vehicle was also damaged, \u200bhe said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the occupying power, Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring \u200bthose responsible to justice. Impunity for violent settlers must end,\u201d Prevot said in a statement posted \u2060on X.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u2018Thrown to the ground\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, told Reuters he had been harvesting olives near the \u200bPalestinian Christian village of Taybeh in solidarity with the local community when he was \u201cviolently attacked\u201d by masked settlers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was thrown to \u200bthe ground,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the attack, describing the perpetrators as Israeli rioters.<\/p>\n

He also suggested the diplomats should have coordinated their visit with the Israeli military.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch coordination could have helped safeguard the visitors\u2019 security,\u201d he said in a statement on X.<\/p>\n

Palestinian Vice President Hussein \u200bAl Sheikh condemned the attack, calling it a small example of the daily terrorism to which Palestinians are subjected.<\/p>\n

Israeli officials have condemned settler violence, while saying it is carried out by a small minority. Palestinians and human rights groups dispute \u200cthat \u2060characterisation.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Israeli police open probe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have surged over the past three years. Journalists, activists and foreign observers have also been targeted.<\/p>\n

On Friday, dozens of masked settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

Washington Post<\/em> photojournalist Heidi Levine, a US citizen covering the harvest, was hospitalised after being assaulted by masked settlers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalestinians face this violence every day. \u200bSettlers also target journalists reporting on \u200bit and diplomats. Harvesting \u2060olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack,\u201d Prevot said.<\/p>\n

Belgium, which has announced a ban on imports from Israeli settlements in the West \u200bBank and the Golan Heights, will press for European Union sanctions \u201cagainst those responsible for this \u200bviolence and those \u2060who support them,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Polish Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maciej Wewior said on X that a convoy carrying diplomats, including Polish officials, had been attacked. The Polish diplomats were unharmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAttacks on members of the diplomatic corps are absolutely unacceptable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israeli police said they had opened \u2060an investigation \u200binto the incident.<\/p>\n

There was no immediate announcement of any arrests. Prosecutions \u200bof settlers accused of violent crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank are rare.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian civilians, European \u200cdiplomats and a French mayor in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Belgium\u2019s foreign minister said, a day after settlers beat an American photojournalist. Maxime Prevot said Belgium\u2019s consul general to the Palestinians, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives were among those attacked. A Belgian vehicle was also damaged, \u200bhe said. \u201cAs the occupying power, Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring \u200bthose responsible to justice. Impunity for violent settlers must end,\u201d Prevot said in a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2912\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}