Masked settlers attack European diplomats in West Bank during olive harvest

The attack came on a Saturday afternoon in Taybeh, a Christian village in the West Bank, where a small group of European diplomats had come to witness the olive harvest. Belgium's consul general was there, along with diplomats from France and Poland and representatives from the Catholic Church. What began as a visit to document the season's gathering ended with masked men surrounding their vehicles, smashing windows, and threatening violence.

According to eyewitnesses and video footage from the scene, seven masked settlers in off-road vehicles boxed in at least one diplomatic car. They demanded identification from those inside, then broke the window. A French mayor, identifiable by his tricolour sash, was forced to the ground. In other clips, masked men with sticks can be seen advancing while others pounded on windows. The activist Amit Orfali, who documented the incident, said the attackers threatened to kill the group.

This assault was not isolated. It occurred on the second consecutive day of high-profile violence during the olive harvest season, which had begun earlier that month. A Washington Post photographer named Levine had been seriously injured the day before when dozens of masked settlers attacked Palestinian villagers gathering olives near Abu Falah. The attackers threw stones and set olive groves on fire. Levine sustained cuts across her body, a broken rib, and four broken vertebrae. Her hand required surgery after a finger was ripped open to the bone.

The toll across the harvest season had grown severe. The Palestinian health ministry reported at least four people killed and more than 100 injured since the gathering began. Activists and observers pointed to a pattern: Israeli authorities appeared to do little to prevent attacks that ranged from slingshots to firearms. The violence seemed to operate with a sense of impunity.

Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot responded swiftly, confirming the attack and stating that his team was safe, though a Belgian vehicle had been damaged and a French mayor assaulted. He connected the incident directly to what he called Israel's illegal settlement policy and announced his intention to push for additional European Union sanctions. "Impunity for violent settlers must end," he said.

Israel's response was divided. The military confirmed the attack and called it a severe act of violence, though it noted the visit had not been coordinated with Israeli forces and no soldiers were present. Israeli police opened an investigation and pledged to bring those responsible to justice. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned what he called severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters and said his ministry was in contact with the ambassadors involved.

But Prime Minister Netanyahu's office issued a separate statement warning against drawing premature conclusions from the incident. The statement also raised concerns about what it described as a coordinated campaign to damage Israel's reputation. The divergence between these official positions—condemnation from military and foreign ministry officials on one side, caution and suspicion from the prime minister's office on the other—reflected the fracture lines running through Israel's response to settler violence during a season when tensions over land, harvest rights, and settlement expansion reach their sharpest point.