Israeli Police Probe Settler Attack on European Diplomats and Palestinians, 1 Day After Journalist Beating
Updated
Updated · Reuters · Oct 17
Israeli Police Probe Settler Attack on European Diplomats and Palestinians, 1 Day After Journalist Beating
3 articles · Updated · Reuters · Oct 17
Summary
Israeli police opened an investigation after masked settlers attacked Palestinians, European diplomats and French mayor Bernard Baudoux during an olive harvest near Taybeh in the occupied West Bank.
Belgium said its consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives were among those attacked, and a Belgian vehicle was damaged; Poland said its officials were unharmed.
Gideon Saar condemned the assailants as Israeli rioters but said the diplomats should have coordinated their visit with the military, while Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh called the attack part of daily settler terrorism.
The assault came 1 day after settlers beat and hospitalized Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, underscoring a 3-year surge in West Bank settler attacks that Belgium says should trigger EU sanctions.