Israeli Police Arrest Eight Over Settler Attacks on Diplomats and Photographer

Israeli police arrested eight people over settler attacks on European diplomats and an American photographer in the West Bank, as Washington condemned the violence.

• Israeli police, the army and the Shin Bet arrested eight suspects and seized vehicles in an early-morning operation named "Olive Branch."
• Masked Israeli settlers attacked Washington Post photographer Heidi Levin in Abu Falah village on Friday, causing serious injuries.
• Settlers also attacked European diplomats and a French mayor in a separate incident in the West Bank on Saturday.
• US Ambassador Mike Huckabee condemned the attack as a "despicable terrorist act" and called for prosecution of all involved.
• Israeli police raised the number of arrests to at least 10 suspects linked to the attacks on the journalist and diplomats.
• US officials welcomed the arrests, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the settler violence.
• Rights groups recorded over 500 settler incidents against Palestinians since the olive harvest began.
• France, Belgium and Poland joined the United States in calling for action against settler violence in the West Bank.
• Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar explicitly blamed Israeli rioters for the attack on the European diplomats.
• The diplomats attacked in Taybeh included envoys from Belgium, France, Poland and the Catholic Church.
• Netanyahu's office called the attacks 'alleged,' questioning evidence amid what it termed a smear campaign against Israel.
• The United Kingdom described the violence as 'ethnic cleansing' and imposed sanctions on settlement products.