A delegation of European diplomats, French clerics, and a visiting mayor was attacked by Israeli militants in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, sparking controversy and a sharp response from Israel’s prime minister’s office. The incident occurred near the Palestinian village of Taybeh, where the group had been participating in an olive harvest with local Palestinian residents.

The delegation included Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, and Vincent Dollmann, archbishop of Cambrai. Witnesses reported that a group of masked assailants approached the diplomats and visitors while brandishing sticks, forcing them to flee to their vehicles. Video footage showed Baudoux on the ground, visibly injured and distressed, while other images captured the damage to one of the diplomatic vehicles—a reinforced window was smashed during the assault as the vehicle attempted to escape.

The attack followed reports of settler violence targeting Palestinians harvesting olives earlier that day. Eyewitness accounts and on-the-ground video contradict efforts by Israeli officials to question key details of the event. According to observers familiar with the scene, the militants sought not only to expel the foreign visitors but also to intimidate Palestinians with whom they were collaborating on the land.

In response to the incident, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement emphasizing the need for “serious evidence” before drawing conclusions, warning against what it described as a “coordinated campaign to smear Israel.” The statement challenged the credibility of the diplomats from France, Belgium, and Poland involved, as well as the Catholic clergy present, dismissing the circulating footage and eyewitness reports as insufficient to establish the full circumstances or assign individual blame.

This official response drew criticism for its tone and for not pledging to investigate or hold accountable those responsible for the attack. Observers noted that the prime minister’s office’s dismissal of diplomatic and clerical witnesses marks a significant departure from previous practices and signals a more isolationist and defensive posture towards settler violence.

The attack in Taybeh came a day after US journalist Heidi Levine was seriously injured in a separate incident involving Israeli militants blocking Palestinian olive harvesters in another village. Netanyahu’s office characterized Levine’s assault as an “alleged” and “disputed” event, reinforcing a pattern of reluctance by Israeli authorities to address violence against Palestinians or international observers.

In an unprecedented move, a group of about a dozen of Israel’s former top diplomats staged a protest outside the foreign ministry in Jerusalem, holding banners that called on Netanyahu to “Stop Jewish terrorism,” highlighting growing unease within diplomatic circles over the government’s handling of settler violence.

The events underscore ongoing tensions and escalating confrontations in the West Bank, with the international community closely monitoring the treatment of diplomats and civilians amid a backdrop of contested territorial and political claims.