'Israel' demands 'compelling evidence' on European diplomat attack

• 'Israel's' PMO demanded "compelling evidence" regarding Saturday's attack on European diplomats, despite acknowledged photo and video footage.
• The 'Israeli' PMO claimed published media showing smashed windows and an injured diplomat fails to establish full responsibility or event sequencing.
• Statement claimed the diplomats entered without military coordination, framing the event as part of a campaign targeting settlers.

The 'Israeli' Prime Minister's Office (PMO) released an official statement on Saturday responding to the attack on European diplomats in the occupied West Bank, urging against drawing conclusions and demanding "compelling evidence", despite the acknowledged existence of video footage and photographs documenting the incident.

Addressing reports that diplomats from France, Belgium, and Poland were ambushed by masked 'Israeli' settlers in the village of Taibe, the 'Israeli' PMO stated that "any violence against diplomats is unacceptable," but claimed that "the more serious the accusation, the greater the demand for compelling evidence."

However, the statement referenced published media from the scene -including footage depicting masked individuals confronting diplomatic vehicles, photographs showing a smashed Belgian consulate window, and images of a French diplomat lying on the ground- before dismissing the visual evidence as insufficient to determine responsibility, and alleged that these images alone do not establish the complete sequence of events.

"Published footage shows masked individuals confronting a diplomatic vehicle," the 'Israeli' PMO acknowledged in its statement. "Separate images show a smashed window and a person lying on the ground. These images alone do not establish the complete sequence of events or individual responsibility."

While calling for further proof despite the recorded media, the 'Israeli' Prime Minister's Office shifted focus toward the delegation's operational protocols, stating that the diplomats entered a sensitive area during the olive harvest without prior coordination with the military.

Furthermore, the PMO alleged that the widely reported assault forms part of a broader, coordinated push to smear 'Israel' and its settlers in the occupied West Bank during the annual olive harvest season.

"We call on the public and responsible journalists to demand verifiable evidence, reject hearsay, and refuse to turn unproven allegations into a collective indictment of the Jewish residents," the office claimed, adding that police and forensic teams have allegedly opened an investigation to examine the circumstances.