Photojournalist and Palestinian farmers attacked during West Bank olive harvest

Dozens of masked settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, on Friday, throwing stones, using slingshots and setting trees on fire. The assault also targeted Heidi Levine, a 64-year-old American freelance photojournalist who works for The Washington Post. Witnesses said Levine fell to the ground and was repeatedly kicked before her attackers took her equipment.

"We looked and saw that there was a journalist … on the ground with people surrounding her, beating her, clubbing her, pulling her up, beating her again and kicking her," independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel told Al Jazeera.

Levine was wearing a vest marked “PRESS” and was later taken to a hospital in Ramallah. Israeli soldiers arrived after the settlers’ assault, firing live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinians; a man was shot in the thigh, and paramedics were reportedly targeted.

"They do nothing to stop the settlers, and they speed into town and start firing their guns and tear-gassing, and they shoot a Palestinian man in the leg," Nathaniel added.

The Washington Post’s executive editor Matt Murray said the newspaper was "outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities."

Separate incidents were reported in Burqa and Turmus Aya, where settlers injured additional Palestinians, burned vehicles and olive trees, and injured a civil-defence volunteer. The attacks coincide with a series of assaults on olive pickers that have been recorded since late September, according to the Israeli rights group Yesh Din.

Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum noted that the intimidation extends beyond agricultural land to homes and vehicles, creating pressure on Palestinian communities.

"People there are still living under threat of attack, not just on their agricultural lands, but also on their properties," he said.