West Bank [Palestine], October 18: On October 17, a group of diplomats from Poland, Belgium, and France were attacked by Israeli settlers in the village of Taybeh in the West Bank . This is a predominantly Palestinian Christian village located east of the city of Ramallah.
According to CNN, a video filmed at the scene shows Bernard Baudoux, the mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries (France), sitting on the ground, leaning against a car with a broken window, while several people stand beside him. In other videos, settlers wearing face masks and carrying sticks block the path of a cameraman sitting in a car and demand to verify his identity.
Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for this behavior, which he said the Palestinian people are enduring every day.
Poland, Belgium, and France have all condemned the attack by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, saying that targeting members of the diplomatic corps is unacceptable and demanding that the Israeli government hold those involved accountable.
The Israeli military said there were no soldiers in the area at the time and that the visit by the European delegation was not coordinated with the military. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar strongly condemned "the serious act of violence by Israeli rioters" and said the Foreign Ministry was in contact with the ambassadors of the countries involved and providing law enforcement support.
The incident occurred just one day after veteran photojournalist Heidi Levine of The Washington Post was attacked by Israeli settlers. According to the newspaper, masked men burned olive trees that were about to be harvested by Palestinians and threw stones. Levine, who was there to cover the harvest, was attacked, surrounded, and had all her belongings stolen.
Commenting on the incident, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was "deeply concerned by the images and what we are seeing." "President [Donald Trump] has made it very clear, he has said it repeatedly, that he does not want to see conflict or crisis in the West Bank," Rubio said, calling on Israel to "crack down" on the violence there.
Reuters, citing statistics from Yesh Din - a group that monitors Israeli settlements - reported that Israeli settlers in the West Bank have been involved in at least 170 attacks against Palestinians since September 27, around the time the annual olive harvest begins.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
