American photojournalist attacked by Israeli settlers in West Bank

Settlers in the occupied West Bank attacked Palestinian villagers, set fire to the olive trees they were harvesting and beat an American journalist Friday in the latest instance of rising settler violence in the region. Heidi Levine, a veteran photojournalist for The Washington Post, said she was wearing a vest that clearly read “PRESS” on the front and back when a group of settlers, dressed in black with their faces covered, pushed her to the ground and kicked her at least 50 times as she tried to document what witnesses described as a “coordinated attack.”

Levine was taken to a hospital in the Ramallah region, where she is in stable condition. “I was attacked, pushed to the ground,” Levine told reporters from her hospital bed Friday. “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.” Witnesses who spoke to The Associated Press and Reuters said the attack began when a group of 80 or more settlers descended from a hill above an olive grove in which Palestinian villagers from Abu Falah had gathered to harvest, an annual tradition that has long been a cornerstone of Palestinian culture.

The settlers set the groves on fire and hurled rocks at the Palestinian villagers, according to the witness accounts. Levine was part of a group of journalists who were about 80 yards away when settlers chased them down and overtook them. She was beaten with sticks and kicked until a group of Palestinians pushed the settlers back enough for American journalist Jasper Nathaniel to reach Levine and help her to safety, according to The Washington Post.

“To be clear, the only reason I was able to reach Heidi was because young Palestinians provided cover with rocks against machine-gun- and tear-gas-wielding settlers and soldiers,” Nathaniel said in a post on X, which included video footage of a group rushing to help Levine. “It’s those kids, not the settler terrorists, who the IDF was hunting after the attack.” In a subsequent post, Nathaniel shared a photo of a bandaged Levine lying in a hospital bed.

“Heidi is going to be okay, but her injuries are significantly worse than initially thought,” Nathaniel wrote in the post. “It appears that she may have been stabbed. She’s getting ready for surgery.” The Washington Post did not immediately respond to MS NOW’s request for comment on Friday. Executive Editor Matt Murray in a statement shared with the Post condemned the incident as an unwarranted attack on a member of the free press. “This morning, a Washington Post photographer, Heidi Levine, was attacked by Israeli settlers while reporting in the West Bank,” Murray said.

“She was wearing visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist. While we are relieved that Heidi has received medical care and is safe, we are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities.” Witnesses said that when soldiers with the Israeli military arrived at the scene, they fired tear gas at Palestinians who had dodged the jeeps that the soldiers had driven through the attack.

The Israeli military said in a statement Friday that “the forces acted to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means.” “IDF soldiers initially fired warning shots into the air and then fired toward a suspect who ran toward them, carrying a sharp object and posed a threat to them,” the statement said, adding the incident is under investigation. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose far-right government has facilitated a significant expansion of Israeli settlements and outposts across the West Bank, said the circumstances of Levine’s attack “remain unclear and are under investigation.”

Israel “unequivocally condemns violence against anyone,” the statement said. “But serious questions remain.” It added: “Reports indicate some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths. Footage shows masked individuals on both sides hurling objects, amid reports of fireworks fired at Jewish youths. Other footage appears to show Levine knocked down and immediately helped to her feet by the same unidentified individual.”