European Diplomats' Convoy Attacked Near Taybeh in West Bank; Belgian Consulate Car Damaged, Police Investigating
TAYBEH, West Bank — A group of masked men attacked vehicles carrying European diplomats near the Palestinian village of Taybeh in the West Bank on Saturday, according to Israeli Army Radio and multiple media reports on Oct. 17. About seven attackers on all-terrain vehicles reportedly surrounded a diplomatic vehicle, demanded identification, threw stones and smashed a window of a Belgian consulate car. The delegation, travelling during the annual olive harvest, included the French consul in Jerusalem and diplomats from France, Belgium and Poland.
Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot condemned the attack in the strongest terms, saying a French mayor travelling with the delegation had been assaulted and a Belgian diplomatic vehicle damaged, while Belgian staff were safe. He said Belgium would continue pressing the European Union for sanctions on those responsible. Taybeh Mayor Suleiman Khourieh told Al Jazeera the French consul was among the delegation.
The Israel Defense Forces condemned the violence, while saying the diplomatic tour had not been coordinated with the military in advance and that no IDF forces were present at the scene. Israel Police said the Binyamin station had opened an investigation after footage of the attack circulated online, and that details had been forwarded to the Foreign Ministry to locate the victims, gather testimony and identify the suspects. France and Poland had not publicly commented as of publication.
The incident followed another attack on Friday near the village of Abu Falah, where, according to The Washington Post, dozens of masked men attacked villagers harvesting olives and set olive groves on fire. Post photographer Heidi Levine was knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked despite wearing a vest marked PRESS, and her phone and camera were taken; she was treated in Ramallah and Israel for cuts, a broken rib and four broken vertebrae, and needed surgery on her hand. (GSM, based on DPA and other public reporting)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 约旦河西岸泰贝一带丘陵与农地实景（资料图）。Abraham Sobkowski OFM 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。
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