Israeli settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats visiting the occupied West Bank on Saturday, in an incident in which a French mayor was beaten. The incident occurred amid intensifying violence surrounding the Palestinian olive harvest.
According to witnesses, the diplomats arrived in Taybeh, a village in the West Bank where the majority of the population is Christian, in vehicles from the French, Belgian and Polish missions. Settlers, it is said, launched the attack to prevent Palestinian farmers from harvesting. The diplomats were first verbally attacked, and then 78-year-old Bernard Baudoux was targeted. Baudoux is the mayor of Aulnay-sous-Bois in northern France.
The video footage seen by the AFP shows the mayor, wearing a ribbon in the colours of the French tricolour, leaning against a car in a hunched position. The mayor stated that he was knocked to the ground, beaten and struck with iron bars by assailants who 'arrived in a state of complete fury'. He sustained no serious injuries and was able to continue his visit to Taybeh, accompanied by the French consul general in Jerusalem and a priest from his own town, to sign a cooperation agreement between the two municipalities. He stated that the attack was an example of the tolerance shown by the Netanyahu government towards settler violence.
The Israeli foreign minister strongly condemned the violent acts, attributing them to Israeli lawbreakers, but criticised the involved European consulates for not coordinating the visit with the Israeli military. The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu subsequently condemned the campaign against Israel, stating that it relied on sensational headlines before all the facts were known, and that the diplomats should have coordinated their movements with the Israeli military. The office noted that Mr Baudoux is a communist known for his support of the Palestinian cause.
The French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, called on Israeli authorities to immediately arrest those responsible for the grotesque acts and bring them to justice. Belgium condemned the attack, carried out by masked settlers, in the strongest possible terms, noting that one Belgian vehicle had been damaged. The Belgian consul general was also present at the scene. Israeli police announced that they had launched an investigation and were working to identify the suspects to bring them to justice.
The attack fits into a broader pattern: Israeli settlers are carrying out an increasing number of attacks aimed at preventing the annual olive harvest in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. On Friday, Heidi, a photographer for the Washington Post, was severely injured while reporting on the harvest, and a week earlier, a photographer for AFP had been beaten. The US state department stated on Saturday that it was deeply disturbed by the images of the attack on Ms Levine, while the US ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, called for the Israeli authorities to prosecute and imprison those involved, describing the incident as a grotesque act committed by masked cowards. The office of Mr Netanyahu stated that those responsible for the attack on Ms Levine would be held to account, without directly accusing the settlers.
The former chief of staff of the Israeli military, Gadi Eizenkot, expressed regret that the violence was destroying the little legitimacy remaining for the State of Israel, describing it as state-sponsored terrorism. President Isaac Herzog described the attack on Ms Levine as scandalous and shocking.
The West Bank has been swept by a wave of violence since the 2023 attacks that triggered the war in Gaza. Jewish settlers have been attacking Palestinians almost daily. According to AFP, based on information from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed there since 7 October, the vast majority by Israeli soldiers. In the same period, approximately 50 Israelis have died, either in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations. Israeli and Palestinian non-governmental organisations note that the settlers' violent acts rarely lead to serious investigations or criminal prosecution, creating an atmosphere of impunity. In the settlements, which are illegal under international law, more than 500,000 Israelis live, alongside approximately three million Palestinians.
