// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
European diplomats attacked by Israeli settlers in West Bank
Masked settlers are accused of attacking the convoy
A delegation of European diplomats has been attacked by masked Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Belgium condemned the assault on its consul general and the other envoys and called for Israel to bring those responsible to justice.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also condemned what they called "the severe act of violence" and said they were investigating.
But the office of the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cast doubt on what happened and suggested it was part of a "coordinated campaign to smear Israel".
The attack came only a day after a number of Palestinians and Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photographer, were injured in a separate assault by settlers in another village in the West Bank.
The diplomats - from Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church - had come to the largely Christian village of Taybeh near Ramallah.
They were there to assess the situation on the ground after almost near daily attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians trying to bring in their olive harvest.
Video footage from the scene showed masked settlers confronting the convoy. Reports suggest stones were thrown.
The Belgian authorities said a car from its consulate had a window smashed and a French mayor was assaulted. Video showed a man wearing a French tricolor sash slumped beside a vehicle.