Masked settlers attack European diplomats and French mayor in West Bank

Who was targeted: Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said the attackers went after Belgium's consul general to the Palestinians, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives, and that "our team is safe." Bernard Baudoux, 78, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, told Reuters he was "violently attacked" and "thrown to the ground"; video showed him slumped against a car in his tricolor sash, and people who spoke with him told AFP he was hurt but did not need a hospital. The Guardian said Baudoux was in Taybeh to launch a twinning agreement with his town and that the archbishop of Cambrai, Vincent Dollmann, was also threatened. Poland's foreign ministry said its diplomats were unharmed and called attacks on the diplomatic corps "absolutely unacceptable."

Europe's response: Prévot said Israel, "as the occupying power," must protect Palestinians, diplomats and journalists and that "impunity for violent settlers must end." Belgium, which has announced a ban on imports from Israeli settlements, will keep pressing for European Union sanctions "against those responsible for this violence and those who support them," he said. Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh called it an example of the "daily terrorism" Palestinians face, Reuters reported.

Israel's responses differ: Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar condemned "the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters" and said police forensic teams were at the scene, but added that "it is unfortunate that the visit was not coordinated with the IDF in advance." The Israel Defense Forces also condemned the "severe" attack, said a preliminary review found no troops were present, and said a warning call from an Israeli civilian with the delegation went to a brigade line that takes reports only from security personnel. Israel Police said it opened an investigation after footage circulated. Netanyahu's office struck a different tone, saying the reports came "amid concerns about a coordinated campaign to smear Israel" during the harvest, "relying on sensational headlines before the full facts emerge," AFP reported. Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot called it "Jewish terror under the auspices of the Israeli government," The Guardian said. An unnamed Western diplomat told The Guardian that demanding advance notice of diplomats' travel runs against diplomatic conventions.

Timeline of this harvest: Late September, the harvest begins under new Israeli rules barring Palestinians from groves in Area C, the military-controlled zone that holds most West Bank farmland, AP reported. Last week, settlers beat an AFP photographer, AFP said. Friday, Oct. 16, settlers beat Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine near Abu Falah; she had surgery Saturday and was in moderate condition, a Beilinson Hospital spokesperson told The Guardian. Saturday, Oct. 17, the Taybeh attack. Since Sept. 27, Yesh Din counts more than 170 settler attacks, and the Palestinian Health Ministry says at least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured, according to The Guardian and AP.

What remains unknown: who the attackers were and whether any will be arrested or charged; prosecutions of settlers accused of violence against Palestinians are rare, Reuters said. Also unknown is whether Belgium's push yields new EU sanctions, and whether France or Poland takes formal diplomatic steps. What would change the story: arrests, an indictment, or EU or U.S. measures against those responsible.

Accounts of the attack come from Belgium's and Poland's foreign ministries, the French mayor, witnesses quoted by Reuters, AFP and The Guardian, and Israeli Army Radio as quoted in The Times of Israel; injury details vary slightly between outlets. The Guardian reported three people hurt. No arrests had been announced in the sources reviewed. Harvest-season death, injury and attack totals come from the Palestinian Health Ministry (via AP) and the Israeli rights group Yesh Din (via The Guardian) and could not be independently verified. Photos are file images, not from Saturday's events.