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| Heidi Levine speaking to journalists at hospital after the attack. Photograph: Ali Sawafta/Reuters |
Fri 16 Oct 2026 10.06 EDT
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 Palestinians attempting to harvest their olives in towns across the West Bank on Friday. At least six people had been injured in the town of Abu Falah near Ramallah, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
At least 80 settlers, some of whom were carrying firearms or clubs, gathered to stop Palestinians from harvesting their olives in Abu Falah, using slingshots to hurl rocks at the farmers in view of Israeli military jeeps. 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 10 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 had ended when her Palestinian colleagues intervened to save her.
In a statement, the Washington Post said that Levine had been wearing visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist.
The coordinated assault came amid a surge of settler violence against Palestinians over the past month. Settlers have carried out at least 170 attacks since 27 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 this year’s harvest has seen an uptick in violence as Israel’s... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/16/israeli-settlers-attack-olive-farmers-west-bank-washington-post-journalist-heidi-levine
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
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.
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