Dozens of masked settlers burned trees and assaulted farmers and a photojournalist in Abu Falah. The assault comes during a sharp rise in harvest violence.
Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and journalists in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Falah on Friday, beating harvesters and setting olive groves ablaze, according to the BBC. The violence injured 12 Palestinians, including four dual Palestinian American citizens, as well as an American photojournalist reporting on the annual olive harvest.
The attack on farmers and reporters
Roughly 80 settlers carrying clubs, firearms and slingshots charged into farmland northeast of Ramallah while villagers were gathering olives, Al Jazeera reported. Palestinian families had gathered together from three nearby villages to harvest the trees for safety because illegal outposts surrounded the land. When the settlers advanced, they set fire to groves of olive trees and threw rocks. Some Palestinians threw stones and fired fireworks to defend themselves.
Heidi Levine, a 64-year-old American photojournalist working for The Washington Post, was beaten and kicked repeatedly by settlers, according to Al Jazeera. Levine wore a protective vest marked ‘PRESS’ alongside a helmet and flak jacket. Settlers took her cameras and phone during the assault. Independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who witnessed the beating, said rescuers struggled to pull her away before settlers charged again with stones. Levine was later hospitalized in Ramallah.
Palestinian American Majdi Fheed said about 15 men attacked him with weapons, sticks and stones. Yaser AlKam, a local council member from the nearby village of Turmus Aya, said settlers used nail-studded sticks against Fheed, leaving deep wounds on his head and neck, while Fheed’s elderly mother was also hurt. Settlers burned at least three cars belonging to the farmers. When Israeli military vehicles arrived, soldiers fired tear gas and live rounds toward Palestinians, shooting a man in the leg, according to Nathaniel and Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Official responses to the assault
The Israel Defense Forces said troops went to the area after receiving a report about a violent confrontation. The military stated that a female journalist was injured during the confrontation and that it would examine all circumstances surrounding the event.
The Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray condemned the assault in a statement. ‘We are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities,’ he said. A US State Department spokesperson said American officials were aware of the violence, adding, ‘We condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank and call for investigations, arrests, and convictions, of those responsible.’
Wave of violence across the West Bank
Other assaults occurred on Friday across the West Bank. Settlers attacked olive pickers in Burqa east of Ramallah, injuring four Palestinians. In Turmus Aya, settlers attacked farmers, torched olive trees and burned vehicles, injuring a civil defense volunteer. These followed the Oct. 7 death of 44-year-old Ali Hassan Yasser al-Bazzari, who was killed during an assault near Burqa northwest of Nablus. On Oct. 6, armed settlers beat Agence France-Presse photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh with rifle butts near Aqraba, sending him to the hospital.
The United Nations reported that the past two weeks had more settler attacks than the entire harvest season last year. Settler attacks on this year’s harvest have killed one Palestinian and injured more than 120 others, according to the UN. The Israeli rights group Yesh Din counted at least 170 attacks since Sept. 27, when the seasonal harvest started. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project reported that settler violence in the West Bank has reached record levels.
The attacks come as Israel expands settlements on Palestinian land. Amnesty International reported that Israeli authorities signed at least 15 land confiscation orders covering about 20 hectares in Jenin last month to connect two planned settlements. In response to settlement growth and escalating violence, Western allies including Britain and France recently announced sanctions targeting goods bought from illegal settlements.
