Photojournalist injured in West Bank amid settler attacks on olive harvesters
A Washington Post photographer was beaten by masked Israeli settlers while covering Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank, prompting calls for investigation from U.S. officials and press groups.
Masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank on Friday, injuring several people, including American photographer Heidi Levine of The Washington Post. Levine, who was wearing a vest marked "press," said she was struck, kicked and had her equipment taken as she was pushed to the ground.
"Today I was brutally attacked," Levine said in a video recorded at a hospital. "We saw in the distance, on the hilltop, at least 50 masked men with slingshots. When they came running down, I was attacked, pushed to the ground. They just kept kicking me and kicking me. They also tore my cameras and phone off."
Levine was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where she received medical care and was reported to be safe. Washington Post 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."
Israeli police acknowledged reports of a foreign journalist being injured and said they would investigate and "bring those involved to justice." The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said it was monitoring the situation, condemning "criminal violence by any party in the West Bank" and calling for investigations, arrests and convictions.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the incident was part of at least two dozen settler attacks on olive harvesters that day, leaving about 20 people injured. The attacks followed a recent assault on an Agence France-Presse photographer covering similar violence.
Sara Qudah of the Committee to Protect Journalists described the beating as part of a "disturbing pattern of violence and harassment against journalists regardless of their nationalities," noting that perpetrators often act without fear of consequences. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate also condemned the incident as an assault on press freedom and a breach of protections for journalists in conflict zones.