Washington Post hits back at Netanyahu’s account of attack on journalist

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in The Washington Post has hit back at Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's account of an attack on one of its photojournalists by masked settlers in the occupied West Bank . Footage of the attack, including video shared by the Post, shows masked men beating and kicking veteran conflict reporter Heidi Levine as she lay on the ground. Witnesses told Reuters that about 80 masked people carrying gas canisters descended on the olive harvest in Abu Falah, burning olive trees and throwing rocks at Palestinians . Matt Murray, the newspaper's executive editor, replied on X on Friday after Netanyahu's office said the circumstances of the attack on Levine near Abu Falah were “unclear”. Netanyahu’s office had written on X: “The facts surrounding the confrontation near Abu Falah, during which Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was allegedly assaulted, remain unclear and are under investigation.” "To be clear: Some facts are neither in dispute nor unclear,” Murray wrote in his reply on X. “Our photographer was clearly marked as Press. She was clearly beaten. These are not partisan or risible statements, but indisputable. We urge a thorough investigation and accountability." Netanyahu said in the same statement: " Israel unequivocally condemns violence against anyone – Jews, Arabs, Christians or journalists. Those responsible will be held accountable." He also said that "reports indicate some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths" and that other recordings appeared "to show Levine knocked down and immediately helped to her feet by the same unidentified individual". He concluded: "The investigation must establish the facts, including who initiated the violence." The Post said earlier on Friday that Levine was wearing "visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist". "We are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from the authorities," the paper added in a statement shared on X. Speaking from a hospital bed, Levine said she was "brutally attacked", pushed to the ground and robbed of her camera gear, bag and phone. "Luckily I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn't even be here, because they just kept kicking me and kicking me," she said. The Israeli military said it and the Border Police were sent to the area after "reports of a violent confrontation" and that forces "acted to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means". "All details of the incident will be examined," It said. The military said soldiers at another location "fired toward a suspect who ran toward them, carrying a sharp object and posed a threat to them". Palestinian medics said two people were injured and taken to hospitals in the Ramallah area. Levine was among a group of journalists covering the harvest in a year of record settler violence. Yesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group, has recorded at least 234 attacks related to the olive harvest since 27 September, and it said soldiers were documented as present in more than a quarter of them. The United Nations has reported that Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 1,140 Palestinians in the West Bank over the last three years.