LONDON: The Washington Post has denied Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s description of an attack on one of its photojournalists in the occupied West Bank, The Independent reported.
Footage of the Friday incident involving veteran war reporter Heidi Levine, shared by the newspaper, shows masked Israeli settlers beating and kicking the journalist as she lies on the ground. On the day, about 80 masked Israelis stormed the Palestinian olive harvest in Abu Falah, burning olive trees and throwing rocks at locals, witnesses told Reuters.
The Post’s executive editor, Matt Murray, used X on Friday to reply to a post by Netanyahu’s office that described the circumstances of the attack on Levine as “unclear.”
The Israeli PM’s post had said: “The facts surrounding the confrontation near Abu Falah, during which Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was allegedly assaulted, remain unclear and are under investigation.”
Murray responded: “To be clear: Some facts are neither in dispute nor unclear. Our photographer was clearly marked as Press. She was clearly beaten. These are not partisan or risible statements, but indisputable. We urge a thorough investigation and accountability.”
In Netanyahu’s statement, he said that Israel “unequivocally condemns violence against anyone — Jews, Arabs, Christians or journalists.”
He added: “Those responsible will be held accountable,” he added.
The Israeli prime minister, however, appeared to suggest that the violence in Abu Falah had begun when “some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths.”
Other video footage of the attack appeared “to show Levine knocked down and immediately helped to her feet by the same unidentified individual,” Netanyahu added.
“The investigation must establish the facts, including who initiated the violence,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Washington Post had said Levine was wearing “visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist.”
The newspaper added: “We are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from the authorities.”
Levine, 63, speaking from a hospital bed after the attack, described being “brutally attacked,” forced to the ground and having her camera equipment, bag and phone stolen.
She said: “Luckily I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here, because they just kept kicking me and kicking me.”
Israel’s military said it deployed to Abu Falah together with the border police after “reports of a violent confrontation.” Soldiers “acted to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means. All details of the incident will be examined,” it added.
Israeli troops elsewhere “fired toward a suspect who ran toward them, carrying a sharp object and posed a threat to them,” the military said.
Palestinian medics said two people were injured and taken to hospitals in the Ramallah area.
The Post had been covering the olive harvest, together with other media, amid a record year of settler violence. At least 234 attacks related to the harvest have taken place since Sept. 27, according to Israeli settlement monitoring group Yesh Din.
The group said that Israeli soldiers were present during at least one-quarter of the incidents.
Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,140 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the last three years, according to the UN.