European diplomats attacked by Israeli settlers in West Bank

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, while France decried the attack as "appalling". Both 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, suggesting it was part of a "co-ordinated 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.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the attack on Levine was "disturbing" and "not a good look".

It was also condemned by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who called it a "despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards". A staunch ally of Israel, Huckabee said the assailants must face "prosecution to the fullest extent of the law".

In Saturday's incident, the European diplomats - from Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church - had come to the largely Christian village of Taybeh near Ramallah.