Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, October 17, 2026
From the Liveblog of
Saturday, October 17, 2026
French FM demands Israel hold extremist settlers responsible for attack on mayor
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France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot visits Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on October 7, 2026. (Jack GUEZ/AFP)
PARIS, France — French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot demands that Israel crack down on “criminal violence” after a French mayor was beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
Bernard Baudoux, mayor of the northern French town of Aulnoye-Aymeries, “was violently assaulted by extremist settlers,” Barrot says on X.
“The Israeli authorities must arrest those responsible for these revolting acts and take them to justice. They must urgently halt this criminal violence and guarantee the safety of civilian populations, as they are compelled to do under international law.”
More from today’s Liveblog:
- Lebanon says military delegation will press for halt to Israeli attacks at US talks
- Huckabee casts attack on WaPo photographer ‘despicable act of terror,’ says perpetrators should spend years in jail
- Lebanon’s Aoun asks visiting French FM for help preventing security vacuum in south after UNIFIL pullout
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