The US Embassy in Jerusalem said on Friday it condemned the “criminal violence” by Israeli settlers and demanded an investigation into the attack on Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine a day earlier.
"The Trump Administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans," the embassy said in a statement, adding that it is calling for “investigations, arrests, and convictions, of those responsible”.
Reports late on Friday said Levine had suffered from a broken rib, four broken vertebrae and a serious injury to her finger and would be undergoing surgery on Saturday morning.
She also suffered from multiple stabbing wounds, and was bruised from the beatings.
Israeli settlers attacked the photographer as she was documenting the moment masked Israeli settlers were beating and targeting Palestinian villagers as they were tending to their olive groves.
The veteran photographer was wearing a press vest clearly distinguishing her as a media worker, but was knocked to the ground and her camera and phone seized.
“They just kept kicking me and kicking me, like probably 50 times,” Levine told media reporters.
The attack has garnered widespread criticism from around the world.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the incident “remains unclear and are under investigation”, despite footage of the attack circulating online from various journalists and activists who were present at the scene at the time.
“We will not allow disputed incidents to be exploited to demonize the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria,” he added.
Meanwhile, the executive editor of the Washington Post, Matt Murray, said the outlet was “outraged” by the settler attack and also called on Israeli authorities to investigate the over dozen individuals involved.
"While we are relieved that Heidi has received medical care and is safe, we are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities,” Murray said.
Levine remains in a stable condition, but has told reports from her hospital bed that if it was not for her flak jacket and helmet, the attack may have been fatal.
"They forced me to get up and then kicked me again," she said. "The next thing I remember is Palestinians arriving and rescuing me. It was absolute madness, and I didn't see anyone trying to stop it."
The Committee to Protect Journalists has lambasted the settler attack and said it was part of a broader pattern of systematic attacks on Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank.
"The brutal beating of Heidi Levine is neither isolated nor the first on a journalist covering the olive harvest in the West Bank," said the Committee to Protect Journalists' Middle East regional director Sara Qudah.
"Israel's failure to ensure accountability is emboldening those who attack journalists, while the international community's continued silence sends a dangerous message that these violations can continue unchecked," she continued.
The development comes after Israeli settler terrorists set three vehicles belonging to Palestinians alight early on Friday morning in the occupied West Bank.
Video footage circulating of the attack showed the cars completely engulfed in flames, with emergency services grappling to put out the fire between plumes of dark smoke.
One of the cars burned belonged to Palestinian civil defence teams, local media reported.
