Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians across the occupied West Bank in a coordinated movement to disrupt the annual olive harvest, burning cars and trees and injuring Palestinians and a Washington Post photographer.
Masked settlers wielding clubs and other weapons attacked people attempting to harvest their olives in West Bank towns on Friday. Palestinian authorities said they recorded attacks in eight villages, and injuries among at least ۲۰ people.
It was the latest series of attacks in a deadly campaign of Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in recent months, violence which has drawn accusations of “ethnic cleansing”, including from the British government.
In the town of Abu Falah, near Ramallah, at least ۸۰ settlers, some of whom were carrying firearms or clubs, gathered to stop Palestinians from harvesting their olives, using slingshots to hurl rocks at the farmers in view of Israeli military vehicles. When some of the Palestinians then picked up rocks to defend themselves, the Israeli military fired teargas in their direction.
The Israeli Foreign Press Association said in a statement: “This is the latest in a long line of violent attacks by Israeli settlers against journalists and other civilians in the occupied West Bank. Yet our repeated calls for action to confront this lawlessness have been ignored by Israeli authorities.”
Among those injured was the Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, who was beaten by settlers in an attack that lasted more than ۱۰ minutes, according to witnesses. Settlers stole her passport, phone, wallet and equipment.
“I was attacked, pushed to the ground. Luckily, I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here, because they just kept kicking and kicking me,” Levine said from a hospital bed in Ramallah. She said the attack ended when her Palestinian colleagues intervened to save her.
In a statement, the Washington Post said Levine had been wearing visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist.
The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that the facts surrounding the attack on Levine were “unclear”, suggesting the attack was the fault of “۲۰۰ Arabs and far-left activists” who confronted Israeli youths. The office added that it condemned “violence against anyone”.
There has been a surge of settler violence against Palestinians over the past month. Settlers have carried out at least ۱۷۰ attacks since ۲۷ September, around the start of the annual olive harvest, according to Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group.
Every year, settlers attack Palestinians trying to harvest their olives, but there has been a rise in violence this year as Israel’s elections approach at the end of October.
At least four Palestinians had been killed and more than ۱۰۰ others injured over the past month, Palestinian authorities said. Thousands of trees have been damaged.
Israel imposed new rules on the olive harvest this year, barring Palestinians from harvesting their trees located in Area C, an area under the Israeli military’s control, which comprises most of the West Bank’s agricultural land.
The new orders prohibit Palestinians from entering about ۸,۸۰۰ hectares (۲۱,۸۰۰ acres) of agricultural land – a ۳۰% increase from the year prior – without the approval of the Israeli military. By contrast, the military gave Israeli citizens access to more land this year.
The rights group Peace Now says the military decreased the amount of land Israeli citizens were prohibited, for the purpose of preventing settler violence, from entering from about ۱,۰۷۰ hectares in ۲۰۲۵ to ۶۸۰ hectares in ۲۰۲۶.
The olive harvest is an economic lifeline for Palestinians and has grown in importance since Israel revoked work permits for many Palestinians in the West Bank after the Hamas-led attack on ۷ October ۲۰۲۳.
Photos and videos showed large swathes of agricultural land with uprooted olive trees in Kufur Malek, outside Ramallah, where Israeli bulldozers razed trees.
Settlers rarely face accountability for their violence, even when well-documented. Rights groups say settlers enjoy the protection of the Israeli military, which intervenes only if Palestinians try to defend themselves.
Netanyahu, has on occasion condemned the violence, which he says is due to just about ۱۰۰ settlers, but he has taken few steps to stop it.
Settlements have rapidly expanded across the West Bank under his rightwing government, leading to international condemnation. The UN and most countries judge settlements to be in violation of international law.
Friday’s attack in Abu Falah followed a similar attack hours earlier near the West Bank village of Turmus Ayya, where settlers burned three cars after attacking Palestinians harvesting olives.
Videos shared by the Israeli rights group B’tselem showed hundreds of bags of olives “violently” stolen by Israeli settlers from Palestinians and taken to Israeli olive presses.
Sarit Michaeli, an independent activist, said settlers were stealing Palestinians’ olive crop on a scale “never seen before in my ۲۲-year history of working on this issue”.
A spokesperson for the US embassy in Jerusalem said it was aware of reports of the attack and declined to comment further due to privacy laws.
