As the assault on Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine continues to draw widespread condemnation, Jewish extremists on Saturday attacked diplomats from France, Belgium and Poland who were visiting an olive harvest near the Palestinian village of Taybeh, considered the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank.
Videos from the scene show a group of masked men approaching a vehicle carrying diplomats with clubs and stones and pursuing them on all-terrain vehicles. In subsequent footage, Bernard Baudoux, mayor of the French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, is seen sitting on the ground with his back against a vehicle, wearing an armband displaying the French flag for identification. A separate image shows a shattered window in a vehicle belonging to the Belgian consulate.
Video: Jewish rioters attack European diplomats near Taybeh in the West Bank
(Video: Amit Orpeli, Roni Federman)
The mayor of Taybeh said in a statement that settlers had attacked foreign diplomatic delegations visiting the village during the olive harvest season.
Approximately seven rioters are believed to have taken part in the attack, which also targeted Palestinian olive pickers in Taybeh, an area designated as Area B under the Oslo Accords, where the Palestinian Authority exercises civil control and Israel retains overriding security responsibility.
"We notified the army in real time, but they didn't come or respond," said Amit Orpeli, one of the activists at the scene. "They threatened to kill us."
Orpeli, an activist with the Torat Tzedek organization, arrived with fellow activist Roni Federman. The two told ynet that they had received reports of a major settler attack in a larger nearby olive grove.
Damage to a vehicle window, reportedly caused by a stone thrown during the attack
"We drove there, and seven masked settlers armed with clubs immediately came toward us," they said. "We didn't recognize them. They weren't people from the nearby settlement whom we know."
According to Orpeli, the attackers were particularly violent and arrived on ATVs. Palestinian landowners who fled the scene also reported that the settlers had stolen olives they had already harvested.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot strongly condemned the attack, saying masked settlers in Taybeh had targeted Palestinians, Belgium's consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives. He said a French mayor had been assaulted and a Belgian diplomatic vehicle damaged, but confirmed that Belgian personnel were safe.
Prévot noted that Palestinians face such violence daily and that settlers have also targeted journalists documenting the attacks and diplomats carrying out their duties. Harvesting olives, reporting the news and conducting diplomatic work, he said, should never expose anyone to such attacks.
The Belgian foreign minister linked the violence to Israel's settlement policies, which he condemned as illegal, and to what he described as attempts to forcibly remove Palestinians from their land. He called for an end to the occupation and to impunity for violent settlers, saying Belgium would continue pressing for European Union sanctions against those responsible for the attacks and those supporting them.
IDF: The visit was not coordinated with the military
The IDF strongly condemned the violence near Taybeh, saying Israeli rioters had attacked diplomatic representatives in the area under the responsibility of its Binyamin Regional Brigade.
The military said police officers and forensic investigators from the Israel Police's West Bank district were entering the area under IDF protection to collect evidence, document the scene and take witness statements as part of an investigation.
However, the IDF also said the consular visit had not been coordinated with the military in advance, stressing that such coordination was important in preventing incidents of this kind.
According to the military's preliminary inquiry, no troops were present at the location when the attack occurred. The IDF said a report about the incident had been sent to an account belonging to the brigade's operations center, which is intended to receive reports from security personnel rather than civilians.
The operations center receives dozens of operational reports each day, the military explained, and responds only to authorized security officials. Other channels are available for complaints and reports from civilians. The IDF said the entire incident would be examined.
Israel Police said the Binyamin station in its West Bank district had opened an investigation after footage circulated online showing an attack on several diplomats near Taybeh.
Police said the Foreign Ministry had been notified to help locate the victims, obtain their statements and identify the suspects so they could be prosecuted. The police condemned violence of any kind and pledged to pursue those responsible.
Masked settlers block a vehicle carrying foreign activists in the southern Hebron Hills
Democrats Party chairman Yair Golan condemned the incident, describing the reported attack on foreign diplomats by Jewish rioters in the West Bank as a serious and dangerous development requiring an immediate and decisive response.
Golan accused the Netanyahu-Smotrich coalition of allowing nationalist violence to escalate, warning that Jewish terrorism in the West Bank threatened the rule of law, Israel's security, IDF soldiers and the country's international standing.
He called for Jewish terrorism to be fought with the same determination as Palestinian terrorism, including restoring the use of administrative detention against dangerous Jewish extremists in accordance with the law, dismantling centers of extremist violence, evacuating illegal outposts and arresting and prosecuting those responsible.
Golan said that if his party returned to power, the IDF, Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police would receive full backing to enforce the law and restore security and order in the West Bank. He insisted that Jewish terrorists should enjoy no immunity and that Israeli law must apply to everyone.
Meanwhile, Palestinians reported another incident in which settlers allegedly blocked a vehicle carrying foreign activists on the Khallet al-Homs road, south of Yatta in the southern Hebron Hills.
Earlier Saturday afternoon, IDF and Border Police forces were dispatched to the Shirat Zion outpost near Beit Lid in the northern West Bank following clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. Settlers were suspected of arriving to disrupt Palestinian olive harvesting, with initial reports indicating that both sides had thrown stones and several Palestinians had been injured.
Hours later, conflicting accounts emerged about the circumstances in which an Israeli civilian was injured. Settlers initially reported a vehicle-ramming attack, but a subsequent account suggested that Israelis had stolen a Palestinian vehicle and crashed it. Another version claimed that the vehicle belonged to Arab Israelis who were attempting to flee the area and struck a settler. The circumstances remained disputed.
Hundreds of former security officials apologize to injured photographer
In recent days, the IDF and police have failed to prevent several serious attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives in different parts of the West Bank. Among those assaulted was Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, who underwent surgery Saturday on a finger of her left hand that was nearly severed during the attack, according to her daughter, Ashley Milner.
Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine after being assaulted by Israeli settlers in the West Bank
(Photo: REUTERS/Ali Sawafta
)
Hundreds of former senior Israeli security officials sent Levine a letter of apology Saturday. The signatories described what they said was the daily targeting of innocent people in the West Bank and warned that such violence was damaging Israel's security and international standing.
They also criticized senior government officials and lawmakers who, they said, encourage violence, and called for a fundamental change in government policy.
The letter was signed by members of Commanders for Israel's Security, a movement comprising approximately 600 former senior officials from the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet, police and diplomatic service, as well as members of a forum representing about 200 former police commissioners and senior police officers.
Among the signatories were former IDF chief of staff and defense minister Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon; former Mossad director Tamir Pardo; former Shin Bet director Ami Ayalon; former police commissioner Moshe Karadi; former deputy IDF chief of staff and deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai; former heads of the IDF Central Command; Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities President Prof. David Harel; and legal expert Talia Sasson.
Back in Taybeh, residents have long warned about the growing pressure on their community. During a previous visit to the village for Ynet's filmed series In No Man's Land, Rabbi Benny Lau spoke with Father Jacques, one of the local church leaders, who described the despair spreading among residents.
Father Jacques recalled with longing the days before the Second Intifada and the Oslo Accords, which he remembered as simpler and more peaceful times. Back then, he said, he could get into his car and drive to Jaffa, while Israeli settlers would stop in the village to buy popsicles and ice cream for their children.
According to residents, 15 families have left Taybeh since the October 7 massacre, moving to various countries around the world.
First published: 18:11, 10.17.26