EU Demands 'Full Accountability' After Masked Settlers Attack Diplomats in West Bank

European governments issued pointed condemnations on Sunday after masked settlers attacked a convoy of Western diplomats near the West Bank town of Taybeh the day before, The Times of Israel reported. The vehicles, carrying Belgian, French and Polish officials, came under assault, with stones shattering at least one window.

An EU spokesperson said the bloc "strongly condemn[s] attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank, including against European diplomats," and called on Israeli authorities to deliver "full accountability as well as effective measures" to stop further incidents during the ongoing olive harvest, a period that has repeatedly seen flare-ups between settlers and Palestinian farmers.

France's foreign ministry echoed the demand, urging arrests of those responsible and pressing Israel to put concrete measures in place to prevent a repeat. The attack on the diplomatic convoy came a day after a separate assault on Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, and as of Sunday afternoon no arrests had been made in either case.

The weekend also brought further reports of settler activity across the West Bank, including an attempted arson in the South Hebron Hills and the blocking of Palestinian farmers from reaching their olive groves in Idhna and Umm Safa. Those incidents followed a recent ruling from a hardline rabbi permitting Jews to harvest olives on Palestinian-owned land as a means of "demonstrat[ing] ownership of the land," a ruling that rights groups say has coincided with a rise in reported olive theft.