Source: Reuters
US diplomats visited a Christian Palestinian village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Sunday following attacks by militant Israeli settlers on European diplomats and an American photojournalist in the previous two days.
Riley Barnes, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, Brian Burch, US ambassador to the Holy See, and a number of other diplomats visited the Latin Convent church and were expected to meet with members of the Christian community in Taybeh.
Belgian, French and Polish diplomats, along with a French mayor and Palestinian civilians, had been attacked near Taybeh on Saturday by masked Israeli settlers.
The previous day, Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was taken to hospital after being assaulted while covering a Palestinian olive harvest near another West Bank village.
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The diplomats’ visit coincided with US President Donald Trump endorsing his ally, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for Israel’s parliamentary election on October 27.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attended a settler conference in the West Bank on Sunday.