Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old leftist mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, was beaten as European diplomats and civilians watched during an attack in Taybeh, a predominantly Christian village in the occupied West Bank.
Diplomats from the French, Belgian and Polish embassies had travelled in marked embassy vehicles to witness Palestinians gathering olives. Masked settlers then arrived in off-road vehicles to stop the harvest, according to witnesses.
The masked men surrounded a diplomatic vehicle, demanded identification and smashed a window. A Belgian vehicle was also damaged.
Maxime Prevot, the Belgian foreign minister, said on Saturday that Palestinians, Catholic representatives and Western diplomats and officials had been attacked. The Belgian consul general, as well as French and Polish diplomats, were among those targeted.
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A witness and two diplomats told AFP that the settlers beat Baudoux. The identities of the masked attackers, the extent of injuries and the full sequence of the attack remain unknown.
Jean-Noel Barrot, France's foreign minister, called on Israeli authorities to arrest those responsible for the attack on Baudoux. He said Israeli authorities must “urgently put an end to these criminal acts of violence and ensure the safety of civilian populations, as they are obligated to do under international law.”
Israeli police said they had opened an investigation into the alleged assault on diplomats. The Israeli military said the visit had not been coordinated with it and that no soldiers were present. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office criticised what it called an alleged “smear” campaign against settlers.
The attack came during an olive harvest marked by a high level of violence in the occupied West Bank. It has put the safety of Palestinian harvesters and European diplomatic visits to Palestinian areas at the centre of the dispute.
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