Poland condemns attack by Israeli settlers on delegation that included Polish diplomats

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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Poland has condemned an attack by masked Israeli settlers on a delegation of European diplomats – including Polish ones – that was visiting the West Bank.

It called for a “decisive response from the Israeli authorities”, saying that the incident is “further evidence of the settler violence that the Palestinian population in the West Bank faces on a daily basis”.

The attack has likewise been condemned by France and Belgium, whose nationals were also in the delegation, and the European Union, as well as by the Israeli foreign minister.

On Saturday, the delegation – which included members from France, Belgium and Poland as well as representatives of the Catholic church – visited the mostly Christian Palestinian village of Taybeh near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

They had come to assess the situation following regular recent attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians trying to harvest olives on their own land. During the visit, the delegation came under attack, with parts of the incident caught on camera.

France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, reported that Bernard Baudoux, mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, had been “violently assaulted” during the incident. He demanded that Israel arrest the perpetrators and “urgently put an end to these criminal acts of violence”.

Late on Saturday afternoon, the spokesman for Poland’s foreign ministry, Maciej Wewiór, issued a statement confirming that the attack had taken place and that the delegation had included an unspecified number of Polish diplomats, who he said had not been harmed.

“We express our deep outrage and strongly condemn this incident,” added Wewiór. “Poland consistently opposes violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Attacks on representatives of the diplomatic corps are absolutely unacceptable.”

The spokesman said that Poland now “expects urgent and detailed explanations from the Israeli authorities” and for the perpetrators of the attack to be identified and held accountable. “We also expect effective measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.”

On Sunday, Poland’s foreign ministry issued a further statement in which it “condemned the attack by masked settlers…during a solidarity visit to a town known for its centuries-old Christian presence”.

The incident “is further evidence of the settler violence that the Palestinian population in the West Bank faces on a daily basis”, they added, calling for a “decisive response from the Israeli authorities”.

The attack was also “strongly condemned” on Sunday by the European Union’s diplomatic service, which said that it “expects full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians”.

Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prevot, said that his country would continue to “press for EU sanctions against those responsible for this violence and those who support them”.

In the wake of the incident, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had urged people to show “caution before drawing conclusions” over what had happened. He claimed that there is “a coordinated campaign to smear Israel and the Jewish residents” of the West Bank.

However, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said that it “strongly condemns the severe act of violence that took place in the area of Taybeh, during which diplomatic representatives were attacked by Israeli rioters”. But it added that “the consulate’s visit was not coordinated with the IDF”, which is “important to prevent incidents of this kind”.

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, also issued a condemnation of the attack and said that police had opened an investigation.

The incident involving the diplomatic group came a day after around 80 Israeli settlers had attacked Palestinians harvesting olives, with Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine among those injured.

Levine told the Committee to Protect Journalists, an American non-profit organisation, that she had been pushed to the ground by a group of masked settlers, who “were kicking me for I think at least 10 minutes”.

That incident prompted criticism of Israel from the United States, whose ambassador, Mike Huckabee, called it a “despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meanwhile, said he was “disturbed” by the incident and confirmed that “we’ve asked the Israelis to crack down on that”.

In August this year, Poland summoned Israel’s ambassador to express its “great disappointment” that the IDF had discontinued an investigation into the strikes on an aid convoy in Gaza in 2024 that killed seven humanitarian workers, including a Pole, Damian Soból.

In May, Poland issued a five-year entry ban on Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for his treatment of detained activists, including Polish citizens, from a flotilla seeking to reach Gaza.

Last year, Israel criticised Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, after he suggested that Israeli politicians are causing the starvation of mothers and children in Gaza. The Israeli foreign ministry called the remarks “unacceptable” and urged Tusk to “remember the lessons” of the Holocaust.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: ABC News/YouTube (screenshot)

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.