Settlers Attack European Diplomats Near Taybeh in the West Bank

Updated 05:43 UTC, Oct 19, 2026. Israeli police said on Monday they have arrested 10 suspects in an investigation into violent incidents in the West Bank over the weekend, including the attacks on an American photojournalist and on European diplomats, Reuters reported. The count rose from the initial eight arrests first reported. The police did not identify the suspects. That replaces the position in the update below, which reported on Sunday that no arrests had been announced.

Updated 19:57 UTC, Oct 18, 2026. The European Union condemned the attack on Sunday. A spokesperson for the bloc said it strongly condemns attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank, including on European diplomats, and said it expects full accountability and effective measures to prevent continued violence and harassment against Palestinians during the olive harvest and against journalists, Reuters reported. United States diplomats visited Taybeh on Sunday, Reuters reported. Riley Barnes, the assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and Brian Burch, the United States ambassador to the Holy See, visited the Latin Convent church and were expected to meet members of the Christian community. Former Israeli ambassadors and Foreign Ministry employees protested outside the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem on Sunday against settler violence, Agence France-Presse reported. By Sunday there had been no announcement of arrests in the Taybeh attack or in the beating of Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine a day earlier, Reuters reported. Reuters journalists also saw at least 10 masked settlers throw rocks at Palestinians and activists harvesting olives near Salfit on Sunday, forcing the farmers to flee while border police fired tear gas toward the hills.

Updated 20:09 UTC, Oct 17, 2026. France and Poland joined Belgium in condemning the attack on Saturday. Poland's Foreign Ministry said it was deeply outraged, condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms, and expected Israeli authorities to provide urgent and detailed explanations, identify those responsible and ensure they are held accountable. Attacks against members of the diplomatic corps are absolutely unacceptable, the ministry said. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called the attack outrageous and urged the Israeli government to arrest those responsible immediately. Belgium's Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said, in fuller remarks reported by CNN, that as the occupying power Israeli authorities must protect Palestinians, ensure the safety of diplomats and journalists, and bring those responsible to justice, adding that impunity for violent settlers must end. CNN reported that Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the attack outrageous and shocking violence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office pushed back, saying in a statement on X that serious accusations require serious evidence, and AAP reported the office warned against premature conclusions. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called the attackers Israeli rioters, CNN and AAP reported.

Updated 18:10 UTC, Oct 17, 2026. Belgium's foreign minister, Maxime Prevot, condemned the attack in the strongest terms and said Belgium will keep pressing for sanctions against those responsible for settler violence and those who support it, Reuters reported. Prevot said the Belgian consul general, French and Polish diplomats, Catholic representatives and a French mayor were among those attacked, and that a Belgian vehicle was damaged. "Harvesting olives, reporting the news or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk of attack," he said. CNN reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar also strongly condemned what he called severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters, and said his ministry was in touch with the ambassadors of the countries involved and was assisting law enforcement. Hussein al-Sheikh, vice president of the Palestinian Authority, called for a firm international stance and international protection for Palestinians. Army Radio, cited in other reports, said seven masked settlers armed with clubs arrived on all-terrain vehicles, surrounded the convoy and demanded identification.

Israeli police said on Saturday that they have opened an investigation after a delegation of European diplomats was attacked near the Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank, in the second day of settler violence around the olive harvest to draw in foreign visitors.

The diplomats came from France, Belgium and Poland, the Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported. They were visiting an olive press near Taybeh, a Christian village near Ramallah, when settlers blocked their vehicle, demanded identification papers and damaged a Belgian consulate car, Ynet reported. Other reports said masked men surrounded the cars, threw stones and smashed a window of the Belgian vehicle.

Two diplomats and a witness told AFP that the convoy was attacked as it travelled in the area, and that the attack was caught on video. A French mayor travelling with the delegation, Bernard Baudoux, 78, of Aulnoye-Aymeries, was beaten and seen falling to the ground in the images. Diplomatic witnesses told AFP that his injuries were not life threatening. Taybeh's mayor, Suleiman Khourieh, told Al Jazeera that the French consul was part of the delegation. Palestinian olive harvesters were also attacked in the same incident, Israeli outlets reported.

What Israel's authorities said

Police said footage of the attack was circulating online and that officers had opened an assault investigation. "The Israel Police condemns violence of any kind and will work to complete these investigations until everyone who took part in these cases is brought to justice," the police statement said. Police said they had contacted Israel's Foreign Ministry to help locate the people who were attacked.

The Israeli military condemned the attack. It said the diplomatic tour had not been coordinated with it in advance, that no soldiers were at the scene, and that the incident had been reported to divisional command. The three European governments commented later on Saturday, in the statements at the top of this report.

A harvest under attack

The attack came a day after settlers beat Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine near the village of Abu Falah, a few kilometres away, during Friday's olive harvest attacks. Levine was kicked for about ten minutes, she said, and needed surgery on a finger that was nearly detached. She also suffered a broken rib, broken vertebrae and cuts. Several Palestinians were injured in the same round of attacks.

Settler violence against Palestinians has surged during this year's olive harvest, and Taybeh has been a repeated target. The village's parish priest reported earlier this month that settlers entered olive groves east of Taybeh on October 7 and picked olives from trees owned by Palestinian families, breaking branches as they worked.

Saturday's attack raises the stakes. The earlier violence hit farmers and journalists. This time the people in the cars held diplomatic passports from three European states, and the investigation now sits with the police and the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem.