Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinians, US Journalist In West Bank

Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians and an American photojournalist in the occupied West Bank, while setting fire to olive trees amid a rise in violence linked to illegal Israeli settlements.

Al Jazeera reported that about 80 masked settlers armed with clubs stormed Palestinians harvesting olives in Abu Falah, north of Ramallah, in an attack that escalated after more armed settlers arrived at the scene.

The olive harvest, which serves as an economic lifeline for many Palestinians, has increasingly become a target of attacks by settlers from illegal Israeli settlements, amid government support for settlement expansion.

As the confrontation unfolded, some settlers reportedly used slingshots, while Palestinians responded by throwing stones. Israeli military jeeps arrived at the scene, but the violence continued, with soldiers firing tear gas towards the Palestinians.

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Independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who witnessed the incident, told Al Jazeera that more settlers armed with machine guns later arrived.

Gunshots were heard in the area, while a photographer saw at least one armed settler fire a weapon, Reuters reported.

Nathaniel described the situation in the West Bank as being “at or near an all-time high right now”, adding that people fled when the settlers began shooting.

Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine fell to the ground during the chaos and was subsequently attacked.

“We saw that there was a journalist … on the ground [with] people beating her, clubbing her, robbing her, pulling her up, beating her again and kicking her,” Nathaniel said.

Levine later said she “probably wouldn’t even be here” if she had not been wearing a helmet and flak jacket.

Nathaniel, who rushed to help Levine, said on X that the “only reason” he could reach her was “because young Palestinians provided cover with rocks against machine-gun- and tear-gas-wielding settlers and soldiers”.

“It’s those [Palestinian] kids, not the settler terrorists, who the [Israeli army] was hunting after the attack,” he added.

The Washington Post confirmed that Levine had been attacked and said it was “outraged” by the incident.

In a statement, the newspaper called for “a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the circumstances surrounding the attack “remain unclear”, while calling for an investigation.

“Serious questions remain”, a post on the prime minister’s official X account said, urging an investigation to “establish the facts, including who initiated the violence”.

The incident adds to a series of increasingly frequent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians as Israel continues to pursue the expansion of settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

Last month, Amnesty International said Israel had signed at least 15 land confiscation orders covering approximately 200 dunams, equivalent to 20 hectares, of Palestinian land in Jenin, northern West Bank.

The rights organisation said the move appeared intended to connect two planned settlements in the area.

The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, an independent conflict-monitoring organisation, has also reported that settler violence in the West Bank has reached record levels.

The escalating attacks and Israel’s settlement policies have drawn increased international scrutiny, with countries including the United Kingdom and France announcing sanctions targeting the purchase of goods from illegal settlements.

The measures represent a shift in the approach of some Western countries, which had previously largely limited their response to verbal criticism of Israel’s actions.