DUBAI: Masked Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked a convoy of European diplomats and officials attempting to reach Al-Taybeh village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank in an escalation of recent violence during the Palestinian olive harvest.
The settlers hurled stones at the vehicles and smashed a window of a car belonging to the Belgian Consulate, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Video footage also showed a member of the delegation, identified by Israeli media as Bernard Baudoux, mayor of the French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, lying on the ground following the confrontation. The delegation also included the French consul in Jerusalem, according to Israeli reports, and representatives from Belgium and Poland who were visiting Taybeh, a largely Christian village, when settlers descended to stop Palestinians from gathering olives.
According to the Army Radio, seven masked settlers armed with clubs arrived on all-terrain vehicles, surrounded the diplomatic convoy and demanded identification documents.
The Israeli military condemned the attack in a statement on X and said the police had opened an investigation into the incident. It said the delegation’s tour had not been coordinated with Israeli forces and that no soldiers were present at the scene when the attack occurred.
“Such coordinations are important to prevent incidents of this kind,” it said, adding that investigators were being deployed under military protection to collect evidence and witness testimonies.
The West Bank has seen an especially violent olive harvest season as Israeli settlers try to physically stop Palestinians from gathering their crops.
The UN said on Friday that more than 200 settler attacks targeting Palestinian olive harvesters had been recorded this season, surpassing the total for the entire 2025 harvest. The attacks have killed one Palestinian, injured more than 120 others and damaged over 2,500 olive trees and saplings.
A day earlier, Israeli settlers severely beat Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, 64, while she was covering attacks on Palestinian olive pickers in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah.
Levine underwent surgery on Saturday after suffering severe injuries, including a finger cut to the bone, a broken rib and multiple fractured vertebrae, her daughter Ashley Milner told the Associated Press.
The Washington Post condemned the assault and called for an investigation.
Further attacks were reported on Saturday in Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah, where two Palestinian olive harvesters were beaten and injured. Another farmer was shot in the foot by settlers near Aqraba, south of Nablus, WAFA reported.
In Kafr Malik, east of Ramallah, settlers allegedly stabbed around 20 sheep to death at a Palestinian-owned farm, while Israeli forces uprooted dozens of olive trees during land-clearing operations around Ein Samiya, according to separate WAFA reports.
The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission recorded 34 attacks on farmers, their land and crops on Friday alone, including assaults, theft and the burning of vehicles and trees.
The escalating violence has raised concerns about the safety of Palestinian farmers, many of whom depend on the annual olive harvest for their livelihoods.