RAMALLAH, October 17, 2026 (WAFA) – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemned the terrorist attack carried out by a group of Israeli colonists in the vicinity of al-Taybeh, northeast of Ramallah, where they intercepted a group of diplomats while they were carrying out their duties.
Those targeted included the French and Belgian consul generals, a representative of Poland, other diplomats and representatives of the Catholic Church. The attack also involved an assault on a French mayor and damage to a Belgian vehicle.
The ministry said this criminal attack provides further evidence of the escalation of organized colonist terrorism targeting the Palestinian people, their land and property, and sparing neither international solidarity activists, diplomats, journalists nor clergy.
It said the attacks sought to intimidate them, prevent them from carrying out their duties and stop them from conveying the truth about Israeli crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.
The ministry added that the attack also reflected the expanding reach of this terrorism amid the protection provided to colonists by the Israeli government and the continued policy of impunity that encourages them to persist in and escalate their assaults.
The ministry held the Israeli government fully responsible for these attacks and their consequences in its capacity as the occupying power.
It called on the Israeli government to stop colonist terrorism, ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians and the safety of diplomats, journalists, clergy and international solidarity activists, and hold the perpetrators and those behind them accountable.
It stressed that condemnation alone was no longer sufficient and that the continued absence of international accountability sent a message encouraging further crimes.
The ministry expressed full solidarity with all those who had been attacked. It commended Belgium’s position rejecting colonization, colonist terrorism and forced displacement, as well as its support for imposing European sanctions on those responsible for the attacks and their supporters.
It also praised the positions taken by the European Union and its member states, the United Kingdom and other countries that had condemned these crimes and taken steps to address them.
It called on them to translate their positions into practical and deterrent measures, including holding colonists involved in violence accountable and ensuring accountability for the parties providing them with protection and support.
The ministry stressed that colonist terrorism was not a series of isolated incidents, but was directly linked to the system of colonization, policies of land seizure and the forced displacement of Palestinians, in violation of international law and international legitimacy resolutions.
It said confronting this terrorism required urgent and effective international action to provide international protection for the Palestinian people, halt colonization and forced displacement, end the Israeli occupation, and guarantee the Palestinian people’s right to freedom, dignity and self-determination.
It also called for the realization of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and for enabling the Palestinian people to exercise their political and democratic rights, including holding elections freely and without restrictions imposed by the occupation, its checkpoints, or terrorist attacks by colonists.
T.R.
