Israeli settlers attack European diplomats at olive harvest in West Bank Christian village

Masked and armed Israeli settlers attacked a European diplomatic delegation taking part in the annual olive harvest on Saturday, October 17, in Taybeh, the last entirely Christian village in the West Bank. They injured a 78-year-old French mayor, smashed a Belgian consular vehicle and assaulted several Palestinian civilians. Archbishop Vincent Dollmann of Cambrai, in northern France, was also caught up in the incident. The patriarchs and heads of the Churches of Jerusalem issued a joint condemnation, published on the website of the Latin Patriarchate. The statement called the events a "vile attack" and placed them within a wider campaign of terror against Palestinian communities in the region.

Taybeh, which tradition identifies with the biblical Ephraim of the Gospel of John (11:54), has suffered more than a year of violence at the hands of settlers. On Saturday about seven masked men, some carrying metal bars and riding in off-road vehicles and ATVs, intercepted the diplomatic convoy. They demanded identification, threw stones at the cars and smashed the window of the Belgian consul general's car.

Assaults on delegates and Palestinian civilians

Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, had traveled to Taybeh to sign a sister-city agreement and join the harvest. He was struck with iron bars and knocked to the ground while wearing the tricolor sash of his office. "Three vehicles arrived. Several masked individuals, armed with metal bars, threw themselves on us with extreme aggression," Baudoux said. He told the AFP news agency that the violence showed "a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government" and that "the whole world needs to know what is happening there."

Lex Pouliot, of the Vulnerable People Project (VPP), who was at the scene with the French, Belgian and Polish delegations, said the attackers chased the group on ATVs after beating the mayor and wrecking the consular vehicle. Pouliot said that if settlers acted with such impunity in front of diplomats traveling with security teams, the situation for Palestinians with no international presence would have been incomparably worse. He also reported several attacks in Taybeh the same day: a boy was hit on the head and needed stitches, and an elderly woman was knocked down and repeatedly threatened.

Nearby, in Birzeit, settlers beat and kicked Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, a US citizen, who had to be hospitalized despite wearing a visible press vest. The victims also include a 12-year-old boy and an elderly woman, according to figures compiled by the Palestinian writer Ihab Hassan. Reports in The Guardian say settlers stole olives, kicked a Palestinian woman in her 70s and beat a man so badly that he needed six stitches to the head.

Violence during the olive harvest

Palestinian authorities have counted at least four people killed and more than 100 injured in settler attacks since the harvest began in early October, with thousands of trees damaged. The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din documented more than 377 attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers against Palestinian civilians between September 27 and October 10, an average of about 27 violent attacks a day across 162 communities. Of those incidents, 174 directly targeted the olive harvest, and Israeli soldiers took part in 25 percent of them.

According to VPP, Yesh Din concludes that the systematic failure to enforce the law against the attackers points to an institutional policy aimed at forcing the civilian population to leave by inflicting maximum economic damage. Some extremist rabbis have issued a religious ruling that they say allows Jews to take Palestinians' olives, describing that theft as a "virtue."

Response from the patriarchs and religious leaders

The patriarchs and heads of the Churches of Jerusalem explicitly rejected that ruling in their joint statement, calling it "unfounded, deeply worrying, dangerous and absolutely unacceptable." They welcomed the fact that several rabbis and other Jewish voices have publicly distanced themselves from that position, and they thanked Israeli President Isaac Herzog for his words of condemnation.

The Church leaders said the situation on the ground shows that the attacks continue because those who commit them go unpunished. They noted that Israeli police intervened and made arrests after Saturday's attack, but demanded that the response be serious and consistent rather than a one-off gesture. Their statement calls on the competent authorities to bring those responsible before the courts and asks the international community to strengthen protection for the people of Taybeh and the West Bank.

European diplomatic reaction

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot condemned the attack: "Palestinians face this violence every day. Settlers also attack the journalists who document it, and diplomats. Harvesting olives, reporting or carrying out diplomatic duties should never put anyone at risk." Prévot linked the attack to Israel's "illegal settlement policy" and said that as the occupying power the Israeli authorities are obliged to protect both civilians and diplomatic staff. He said Belgium will keep pressing the European Union to impose sanctions on those responsible for the violence and those who support it.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called the assault "outrageous" and demanded that Israel put an end to this "criminal violence." He called for the immediate arrest and prosecution of those behind "these repugnant acts." He also called on the Israeli authorities to meet their obligations under international law to guarantee the safety of the civilian population.

The statement by the heads of the Churches of Jerusalem ends by reaffirming their full support for the community of Taybeh and its churches. They pledge to do everything in their power to preserve the Christian presence there, and they pray that all the inhabitants of the Holy Land may live in security, justice and peace.