RAMALLAH: Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked a convoy of European diplomats and beat up a visiting French mayor in an escalation of recent violence during the Palestinian olive harvest, witnesses and diplomats told AFP.
Cars from the French, Belgian and Polish missions had brought diplomats to visit Taybeh, a largely Christian village in the occupied West Bank, when settlers descended to stop Palestinians from gathering olives, witnesses said.
Masked settlers made aggressive statements towards the diplomats before kicking Bernard Baudoux, 78, the leftist mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, according to witnesses and diplomats who confirmed his identity.
Video footage seen by AFP showed Baudoux, wearing a sash in the French tricolour, slumped on the ground against a car. Two people who spoke to him said that he was hurt but did not need to go to hospital.
The West Bank has seen an especially violent olive harvest season as Israeli settlers try to physically stop Palestinians from gathering their crops.
On Friday, settlers seriously injured an American photographer for The Washington Post as she covered the harvest, and last week settlers beat up an AFP photographer.
The violence comes during the final days of an election campaign in which prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has championed settlers as he seeks their support in the upcoming poll.
Israel quickly condemned the attack on the diplomatic convoy, in contrast to Netanyahu's response to the attack on the Washington Post photographer, in which he suggested that Palestinians or "far-left" activists shared blame.
"I strongly condemn the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters," foreign minister Gideon Saar said.
However, Saar also criticised the consulates, saying they did not coordinate the trip with the military.
Israeli police said that they had launched an investigation.
"Efforts are underway to locate the victims, collect testimonies, and identify the suspects, with the aim of bringing them to justice," a police statement said.