Masked Israeli settlers attack European diplomats in occupied West Bank

Masked Israeli settlers attack European diplomats in occupied West Bank - Israeli soldiers guard Jewish settlers as they seize the lands of Palestinian farmers in the village of Burqin, in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: Nasser Ishtayeh/ZUMAPRESS/picture alliance via DW)

Videos circulating online showed masked men confronting vehicles during the visit, with images shared alongside the footage showing a broken window on the Belgian vehicle.

Masked Israeli settlers attacked a delegation of European diplomats visiting Taybeh in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, damaging a Belgian consular vehicle and assaulting a French mayor.

According to Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot, the delegation included Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats, Palestinians and Catholic representatives.

Videos circulating online showed masked men confronting vehicles during the visit, with images shared alongside the footage showing a broken window on the Belgian vehicle.

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In a statement on X, Prévot called on Israeli authorities to protect Palestinians, diplomats and journalists and ensure those responsible are held accountable.

“Impunity for violent settlers must end,” Prévot said, adding that Belgium would continue pushing the European Union (EU) to impose sanctions on those responsible for the violence.

He also linked the incident to Israel’s settlement policy, condemning settlement expansion and attempts to displace Palestinians from their land.  The confrontation occurred during the olive harvest, when Palestinian farmers collect crops from groves across the West Bank.

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“Harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack,” he said.

The incident followed the reported assault on The Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine in Abu Falah on Friday while she was covering the olive harvest.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has documented a wider pattern of settler violence across the occupied West Bank. Its September reporting recorded more than 1,600 attacks resulting in Palestinian casualties or property damage between January and August 2026, affecting 275 Palestinian communities.

The attacks averaged 6.7 a day, compared with five a day in 2025, according to OCHA, with the agency also reporting that more than 2,600 Palestinians had been displaced in 2026 in the context of settler violence and related restrictions on access to land.

During the 2025 olive harvest, OCHA recorded 185 settler attacks across 70 Palestinian communities between October and November. Similarly, more than 6,000 olive trees and saplings were vandalised during the period.

"De-escalation must be priority one, priority two and priority three," UN Secretary General António Guterres said last month.