DOMINANT ANGLE
Canberra is relaying the European protests, which are focused on the Belgian demand to put an end to the impunity of settlers and on Gideon Saar's response.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
Maxime Prevot claims that settlers targeted the Belgian consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and a French mayor, and promises to advocate for new EU sanctions.
- 02
Gideon Saar condemned the attack while suggesting that the diplomats should have coordinated their visit with the Israeli army.
- 03
At least four people have been killed and more than 100 injured since the start of the olive harvest, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
ANALYSIS
Canberra, 18 October 2026. Australian media outlets, ABC News and PerthNow, reported on Saturday's attack in Taybeh, a Christian village in occupied West Bank, initially through the voice of European chancelleries.
According to ABC, masked settlers attacked a group of visiting European diplomats. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot stated that the assailants targeted Palestinian civilians, French and Polish diplomats, the Belgian consul general to the Palestinians, and a French mayor. A Belgian vehicle was damaged. "The impunity of violent settlers must end," he wrote on X, calling on Israel, the occupying power, to protect Palestinians, diplomats, and journalists.
The mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries, Bernard Baudoux, told Reuters that he was picking olives near Taybeh in solidarity with the local community when masked settlers "violently attacked" him: "I was thrown to the ground." PerthNow relayed the account of Israeli army radio correspondent Doron Kadosh: seven masked men surrounded a diplomatic vehicle, demanded identification papers, and broke a window. Videos show the mayor, wearing a tricolor scarf, sitting on the dusty ground.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the attack and referred to "Israeli rioters," while suggesting that the diplomats should have coordinated their visit with the army, which could have guaranteed their security. Palestinian Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh sees this as a small example of the "daily terrorism" suffered by Palestinians.
PerthNow placed the event in the context of the olive harvest: at least four dead and over 100 injured since its start, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. On Friday, a Washington Post photographer was seriously injured. Activists believe that Israeli authorities are doing little to curb these violent incidents. Maxime Prevot linked the attack to Israel's "illegal colonization policy" and promised to advocate for new European Union sanctions.
