Belgium condemns Israeli settler attack on European diplomats in West Bank

Belgium on Saturday condemned an attack by Israeli settlers on a convoy of European diplomats in the occupied West Bank, during which a visiting French mayor was beaten. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also condemned the attack, describing it as violence by “rioters”. "I strongly condemn the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters in the area of Taybeh," Saar said, while faulting the diplomats for not coordinating their visit with the Israeli military. Witnesses said diplomats from the French, Belgian and Polish missions had travelled to Taybeh, a largely Christian village in the occupied West Bank, when settlers arrived to stop Palestinians from picking olives. Witnesses and diplomats said masked settlers verbally abused the delegation before kicking Bernard Baudoux, 78, the left-wing mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries. Diplomats confirmed his identity. Video footage circulating online showed Baudoux slumped on the ground against a car, wearing a sash in the colours of the French flag. Two people who spoke to him said he was hurt but did not need hospital treatment. French diplomat and mayor Bernard Baudoux was injured following an attack by Israeli settler gangs targeting a European diplomatic delegation in the village of Al-Taybeh, east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank today. https://t.co/NVq3dU2AIH — Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 17, 2026