Israeli settlers on Saturday attacked a convoy of European diplomats and beat up a visiting French mayor, in an escalation of recent violence during the Palestinian olive harvest, witnesses and diplomats told AFP.
Cars from the French, Belgian and Polish missions had brought diplomats to visit Taybeh, a largely Christian village in the occupied West Bank, when settlers descended to stop Palestinians from gathering olives, witnesses said.
Israeli police said that they had launched an investigation. Video footage seen by AFP showed Baudoux, wearing a sash in the French tricolour, slumped on the ground against a car. The violence comes during the final days of an election campaign in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has championed settlers as he seeks their support in the upcoming poll.
Masked settlers made aggressive statements towards the diplomats before kicking Bernard Baudoux, 78, the leftist mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, according to witnesses and diplomats who confirmed his identity.
Two people who spoke to him said that he was hurt but did not need to go to hospital. “I strongly condemn the severe acts of violence by Israeli rioters,” Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said. “Efforts are underway to locate the victims, collect testimonies, and identify the suspects, with the aim of bringing them to justice,” a police statement said.
