Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked a diplomatic delegation comprising representatives from the French and Belgian consulates, and the Polish representative to the Palestinian Authority during a visit to the town of Taybeh in the central occupied West Bank.
Taybeh Mayor Suleiman Khoury told The New Arab that the delegation had been participating in an event related to the twinning agreement between Taybeh and a French city.
Afterward, the delegation members, accompanied by local residents and the mayor, went to assist farmers with the olive harvest west of the town. There, settlers attacked and assaulted them, smashing the windows of the Belgian consulate vehicle. The delegation managed to withdraw without any injuries.
Two Palestinians were injured in the attack, Khoury explained, adding that while the diplomats were unharmed, they had witnessed the violence.
He confirmed that the settlers attacked the participants while they were in an area near homes that the Palestinian side considered safe. He pointed out that the attackers came from the seven settlement outposts surrounding the town, riding on tractors. Khoury indicated that the number of attackers was approximately ten settlers, and that they also attacked the mayor's car as the participants were trying to leave the area, though no one inside the vehicle was injured.
A French mayor who was part of the delegation told AFP that the incident showed a tolerance by Israel's right-wing government for settler violence.
"I think that if settlers are behaving like this, there is a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government," Bernard Baudoux, mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, said after he was attacked on a goodwill visit to the town of Taybeh.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot issued a statement condemning the attack.
"Harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack," Prevot said.
Belgium will continue to press for sanctions against those responsible for the violence and those who support them, Prevot said.
Israel's army issued a statement condemning the "serious incident of violence.. during which Israelis assaulted diplomatic representatives", adding that police were taking evidence from the scene.