Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said Saturday that masked settlers attacked Palestinians and European diplomats in the occupied West Bank village of Taybeh, assaulting a French mayor and damaging a Belgian vehicle.
Those targeted included Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives, Prevot wrote on X. He said the Belgian team was safe.
Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office urged caution before drawing conclusions, arguing that published images did not establish the full sequence of events or who was responsible.
“Any violence against diplomats is unacceptable,” the office said, calling for compelling evidence to support the allegations.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also condemned the violence, describing those responsible as Israeli rioters. He said police had opened an investigation and forensic teams were collecting evidence at the scene.
Sa’ar said his ministry was contacting ambassadors from the countries involved to help investigators identify the attackers and bring them to justice.
Both Sa’ar and the PMO said the delegation had not coordinated its visit with the Israeli military. Such coordination could have helped protect the visitors, Sa’ar said.
The PMO described footage showing masked people confronting a diplomatic vehicle, along with separate images of a smashed window and a person lying on the ground. It said the circumstances remained under investigation.
Virginia Times has not independently verified the circumstances of the reported attack or the claims about the visit’s coordination.
The PMO also raised concerns about what it described as a coordinated campaign to smear Israel and Jewish residents of the West Bank during the annual olive harvest. Its statement offered no evidence of such a campaign.
Prevot said Palestinians face settler violence daily and that journalists and diplomats are also targeted. He called on Israeli authorities to protect them and bring those responsible to justice.
“Impunity for violent settlers must end,” he wrote.
Belgium would continue pressing for European Union sanctions against those responsible for the violence and their supporters, Prevot said. He linked the attack to Israel’s settlement policy and condemned attempts to force Palestinians from their land.
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