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Israeli police said Monday they arrested 10 suspects in the occupied West Bank after weekend settler attacks on a Washington Post photojournalist and a convoy of European diplomats, following calls from the United States and Europe for a crackdown.
"Following the severe incidents of violence over the past weekend, including the assault of a media worker and the suspected attacks on foreign civilians, an arrest operation was conducted before dawn," said Maj. Gen. Moshe Finchi, the Israeli police’s West Bank commander.
The suspects were arrested on suspicion of violence, violating a closed military zone order and illegal construction, police said.
Prosecutions of Israeli illegal settlers are rare, and the attacks on Westerners, coming during the Palestinian olive harvest and days before Israel’s Oct. 27 election, have triggered rare public pressure from Washington on its closest ally.
"The Israel Police is committed to professional, equal, and impartial law enforcement, based on evidence and in accordance with the law," Police Commissioner Daniel Levy said, adding the law applies to everyone "regardless of identity or affiliation."
Police, the military and the Shin Bet took part in the raids.
Masked settlers attacked Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, a U.S. citizen, on Friday while she covered the olive harvest. She suffered broken vertebrae and underwent surgery on a finger. "They were kicking me for like 10 minutes, and I was trying to hold onto my cameras and my bag," Levine said.
On Saturday, masked settlers attacked a delegation of French, Belgian and Polish diplomats near Taybeh, east of Ramallah, beating French Mayor Bernard Baudoux, 78, and smashing a Belgian consular vehicle's window.
"I think that if settlers are behaving like this, there is a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government," Baudoux told Agence France-Presse (AFP). "The whole world needs to know what’s happening."
Israeli army radio reported that troops and police arrived three hours after receiving the delegation’s location and footage, which were sent within minutes.
"Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards," U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote on X.
"We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to whoever participated in this," he added.
"We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, adding Trump "does not want to see friction or anything, a crisis going on in the West Bank."
"We’ve asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff," he said.
Netanyahu’s office urged caution over the reports.
"Serious accusations require serious evidence," it said, saying the diplomats had entered a sensitive area without coordinating with the military.
A European diplomat rejected that, telling Israel's KAN: "The facts are clear. We were attacked."
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the military blamed "Israeli rioters." President Isaac Herzog called the attack on Levine "outrageous and shocking."
Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot called the attacks "Jewish terrorism, under the auspices of the Israeli government," saying the violence was "burning away the little legitimacy the State of Israel still possesses."
"The EU strongly condemns the latest attacks by violent settlers in the West Bank, including on European diplomats," the EU’s diplomatic service said, urging "full accountability" and an end to settlement expansion.
"Impunity for violent settlers must end," Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said.
"Attacking diplomats is a new escalation," Belgium’s Consul General in Jerusalem, Anick Van Calster, told VRT. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Israel must "urgently halt criminal violence."
Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said the attack "is part of a broader pattern of settler violence that threatens Palestinian communities and weakens efforts toward peace."
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called it "organized settler terrorism."
Israeli rights group Yesh Din has recorded at least 170 settler attacks on Palestinians since Sept. 27, as pressure mounts over West Bank settler violence.
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