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Diplomats are supposed to be untouchable. That is the whole idea of diplomacy — that even in the bitterest conflicts, envoys can move, observe and report without fear of violence. So when masked men with iron bars attacked a group of European diplomats in the occupied West Bank on Saturday — beating a French mayor to the ground and smashing the windows of a Belgian diplomatic vehicle — it sent a shock through European capitals that is still reverberating.
Here is what happened in the village of Taybeh, who was attacked and why, and what the fallout could mean for Israel's already strained relations with Europe.
What happened in Taybeh
On Saturday, a delegation of European diplomats and officials joined Palestinian farmers in Taybeh — a predominantly Christian village east of Ramallah — for the annual olive harvest, a traditional show of solidarity during a season that has turned increasingly violent.
According to multiple reports, three vehicles pulled up and a group of masked men, some armed with iron bars and clubs, some on all-terrain vehicles, charged at the delegation. Videos from the scene show a French official sitting on the ground outside a vehicle with a smashed window, and masked men blocking roads and demanding identification.
The violence had started earlier on a nearby hillside, where settlers reportedly stole olives, kicked and verbally abused a Palestinian woman in her 70s, and beat a man so severely he needed six stitches to his head — before turning on the diplomats.
Who was attacked — and why they were there
The delegation included Belgium's consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives including the Archbishop of Cambrai, Vincent Dollmann. The most severely assaulted was Bernard Baudoux, the mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, who was visiting to launch a town-twinning agreement with Taybeh.
Baudoux told the AFP news agency that the masked settlers yelled insults about France, kicked him and hit him with iron bars — even after he put on his official French tricolour mayoral sash to signal who he was. "That didn't stop them," he said. "It's the gratuitous nature of the violence that stuns me."
A Belgian diplomatic vehicle had its windows smashed. Poland's foreign ministry said its diplomats were in a convoy that was attacked but were unharmed and did not appear to be the direct targets.
The diplomatic fallout
The reaction from Europe was swift and unusually sharp. Belgium's foreign minister, Maxime Prevot, condemned the attack "in the strongest terms," linked it directly to Israel's "illegal settlement policy," and pledged to keep pushing for European Union sanctions against violent settlers and those who support them. "Impunity for violent settlers must end," he said.
France's foreign minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, called the assault "outrageous" and urged Israeli authorities to arrest those responsible immediately. Poland said it was "deeply outraged" and demanded urgent explanations and accountability.
The attack came just one day after a Washington Post photographer was hospitalised after being beaten by settlers in a separate incident — a pattern of escalating violence that is straining Israel's relations with the West.
Israel's response — and the election backdrop
Israel's military confirmed the attack and called it a "severe act of violence," while police said an investigation had been opened. But the military also noted the European officials had not coordinated their visit — which it said was "important to prevent incidents of this kind."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, heading into a closely contested election later this month, said violence against diplomats was unacceptable but cautioned against "premature conclusions." His government has repeatedly argued that reports of settler violence are exaggerated as part of a campaign to defame Israel.
The timing matters. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the olive harvest began earlier this month. Netanyahu is bidding to retain power, and he is facing growing international criticism over settler violence — criticism that Saturday's attack, with European diplomats as the victims, will only intensify.
Attacks on diplomats are rare precisely because the consequences are so severe. Belgium is now openly tying the violence to settlement policy and pushing for EU sanctions — a significant escalation in rhetoric from a European government. Whether words turn into action will be the story to watch in the coming days. For more on the forces reshaping the region, read Trump's Russia sanctions waiver and Eritrea's "declaration of war" warning to Ethiopia.
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