Police investigate attack on European delegation in Taybeh

Israeli police opened an investigation after a European diplomatic delegation was attacked during an olive-harvest visit to Taybeh in the West Bank on October 17. A French mayor said masked assailants struck and kicked him, while Belgium’s foreign minister reported that a Belgian vehicle was damaged. No arrests had been announced immediately. The delegation included Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats and Catholic representatives, according to Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot. He said the group was targeted and that the French mayor, Bernard Baudoux, was assaulted. Belgium’s team was safe, he said. Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, said attackers hit him with iron bars, kicked him and threw him to the ground. He said he suffered no serious injuries. Footage described in reports showed masked individuals near a diplomatic vehicle and a person on the ground; it does not establish the full sequence of events or who was responsible. The delegation was in Taybeh, near Ramallah, during the olive harvest. Accounts said its visit included a ceremony connected to a twinning agreement between Taybeh and a French town, followed by time with...