US Journalist Detained by Israeli Forces After Being Beaten by Israeli Settlers

Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size. A U.S. journalist was detained by Israeli forces after being beaten by Israeli settlers while documenting attacks on Palestinians amid the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank. Independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, along with journalist-activists Russian Adele Shoko and Russian-Israeli Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, were in the village of Umm al-Khair when they were beaten by Israeli settlers.

Umm al-Khair, in Masafer Yatta, is one of the most heavily besieged areas in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, and the journalists have been documenting fierce settler raids against Palestinians as they conduct the olive harvest. Video taken by Shoko shows armed settlers attacking Khzhanovskiy, shoving him to the ground as Nathaniel tries to protect him. According to Shoko, Khzhanovskiy “was severely beaten and lost consciousness several times in front of police,” suffering a concussion .

Another video taken by a different activist shows Khzhanovskiy falling to the ground and losing consciousness as a policeman blocks a paramedic from reaching him. Settlers initially blocked the ambulance from reaching the scene, and Israeli officials denied Khzhanovskiy hospital treatment, instead taking him to the police station. Shoko says she and Nathaniel were also beaten, and that Nathaniel was pepper sprayed and arrested by Israeli authorities.

Related Story News | Human Rights Washington Post Journalist Hospitalized After Israeli Settler Attack Netanyahu cast doubt on the journalists’ account of the attack just hours after it happened. By Sharon Zhang , T ruthout October 16, 2026 Truthout "This is what we are willing to die for as Palestinians", Hazem Jbara told us, showing us half a bag of olives—all he managed to harvest in 10 minutes before settlers attacked him. I watched from the rooftop as they came from two sides, trying to trap Hazem and @infinite_jaz … pic.twitter.com/CJo1EgdmbX — Adele Shoko (@AdeleShoko) October 26, 2026 Both Nathaniel and Khzhanovskiy were released on Thursday afternoon local time, Shoko said.

However, they were banned from the West Bank for 60 days. “This is a clear example of Israel trying to prevent us from covering the terror it commits in the West Bank,” Shoko said. The incident comes less than two weeks after Israeli settlers threw Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine to the ground and beat her, sending her to the hospital. That attack was documented by Nathaniel and Khzhanovskiy, who accompanied her as she received medical care.

Wearing a cast on her wrist , Levine said in an interview with CNN ’s Jake Tapper last week that the violence she faced at the hands of Israeli settlers is just a glimpse into what Palestinians have to deal with on a daily basis. “I can now really understand what others have gone through, what Palestinian women, children, men have gone through,” she said. “I’ve covered funerals of young people that have been killed by these Jewish settlers.

It was always very difficult to meet people — even a man that was sexually abused and tortured in front of his family.” “I’m an American, I work for the Washington Post , my story is getting a lot of attention around the world, everyone wants to talk to me — but I can’t imagine what it’s like for all the victims that have gone through the same ordeal and are living with the threat of this violence on a daily basis,” Levine went on. Last week, Democratic House candidate Brad Lander was also detained by the Israeli military during a visit to the West Bank with an international delegation to harvest olives with a Palestinian family.

The attack on Nathaniel and other journalists comes just after UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese presented a report to the UN accusing Israel of “mediacide” in its continued targeting of journalists and media workers in Palestine, especially amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza. In the report, Albanese notes that Israel has systematically targeted journalists and media workers, with hundreds of them “killed, injured, arbitrarily detained, tortured, intimidated and smeared as terrorists while documenting the destruction of their own society.”

This targeting has been essential to Israel’s genocide and assaults as it seeks to erase those who exposed it to the world. “[T]hese practices constitute an assault on truth that is intrinsic to the genocidal violence they are intended to conceal,” Albanese wrote. “The elimination of witnesses, the suppression of freedom of expression and the abandonment of fundamental journalistic ethics may amount, in many ways, to ‘mediacide’: the systematic destruction of the media’s public function.”

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Required: You must preserve the article exactly as it appears on our site. You cannot edit, shorten or otherwise alter the content. Required: You must clearly credit the author(s) and retain their byline. Prohibited: You cannot republish our photographs or illustrations without specific permission. Prohibited: You cannot use this work for commercial purposes. Article HTML Republish HTML code for copying <h1>US Journalist Detained by Israeli Forces After Being Beaten by Israeli Settlers</h1> <p><strong>By Sharon Zhang</strong></p> <p><em>This article was originally published by </em> <a href src="https://truthout.org/articles/us-journalist-detained-by-israeli-forces-after-being-beaten-by-israeli-settlers/">Truthout</a></p> <p><strong><p>The incident came as a UN expert issued a report detailing Israel’s “mediacide” in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.</p></strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">A U.S. journalist was detained by Israeli forces after being beaten by Israeli settlers while documenting attacks on Palestinians amid the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/29/activists-accuse-israeli-settlers-of-assault-in-occupied-west-bank">along with</a> journalist-activists Russian Adele Shoko and Russian-Israeli Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, were in the village of Umm al-Khair when they were beaten by Israeli settlers.

Umm al-Khair, in Masafer Yatta, is one <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/inside-a-west-bank-community-encircled-by-an-illegal-israeli-settlement/">of the most heavily</a> besieged areas in the West Bank by Israeli settlers, and the journalists <a href="https://www.infinitejaz.com/p/on-the-ground-for-the-olive-harvest">have been documenting</a> fierce settler raids against Palestinians as they conduct the olive harvest.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Video taken by Shoko <a href="https://x.com/AdeleShoko/status/2115564949695283489">shows armed settlers</a> attacking Khzhanovskiy, shoving him to the ground as Nathaniel tries to protect him.

According to Shoko, Khzhanovskiy “was severely beaten and lost consciousness several times in front of police,” suffering <a href="https://x.com/AdeleShoko/status/2115502733700546964">a concussion</a>. <a href="https://x.com/masafering/status/2115530865736552721">Another video</a> taken by a different activist shows Khzhanovskiy falling to the ground and losing consciousness as a policeman blocks a paramedic from reaching him.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Settlers initially blocked the ambulance from reaching the scene, and Israeli officials denied Khzhanovskiy hospital treatment, instead taking him to the police station.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Shoko says she and Nathaniel were also beaten, and that Nathaniel was pepper sprayed and arrested by Israeli authorities. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Both <a href="https://x.com/adeleshoko/status/2115818631883854299">Nathaniel and Khzhanovskiy were released</a> on Thursday afternoon local time, Shoko said.

However, they were banned from the West Bank for 60 days. “This is a clear example of Israel trying to prevent us from covering the terror it commits in the West Bank,” Shoko said.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The incident comes less than two weeks after Israeli settlers threw <em>Washington Post</em> journalist Heidi Levine to the ground and beat her, sending her to the hospital. That attack was documented by Nathaniel and Khzhanovskiy, who accompanied her as she received medical care.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Wearing a cast <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/22/middleeast/washington-post-journalist-attack-west-bank-settlers-intl-hnk">on her wrist</a>, Levine said in an interview with <em>CNN</em>’s Jake Tapper last week that the violence she faced at the hands of Israeli settlers is just a glimpse into what Palestinians have to deal with on a daily basis.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I can now really understand what others have gone through, what Palestinian women, children, men have gone through,” she said.

“I’ve covered funerals of young people that have been killed by these Jewish settlers. It was always very difficult to meet people — even a man that was sexually abused and tortured in front of his family.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m an American, I work for the <em>Washington Post</em>, my story is getting a lot of attention around the world, everyone wants to talk to me — but I can’t imagine what it’s like for all the victims that have gone through the same ordeal and are living with the threat of this violence on a daily basis,” Levine went on.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Last week, Democratic House candidate Brad Lander was also detained by the Israeli military <a href="https://jewishcurrents.org/israel-revoked-entry-permits-of-brad-lander-and-other-us-jewish-figures-after-west-bank-olive-harvest-detention">during a visit</a> to the West Bank with an international delegation to harvest olives with a Palestinian family.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The attack on Nathaniel and other journalists comes just after UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories <a href="https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/2114483869533823405">Francesca Albanese presented a report</a> to the UN accusing Israel of “mediacide” in its continued targeting of journalists and media workers in Palestine, especially amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the report, Albanese <a href="https://docs.un.org/en/A/81/249">notes</a> that Israel has systematically targeted journalists and media workers, with hundreds of them “killed, injured, arbitrarily detained, tortured, intimidated and smeared as terrorists while documenting the destruction of their own society.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This targeting has been essential to Israel’s genocide and assaults as it seeks to erase those who exposed it to the world. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“[T]hese practices constitute an assault on truth that is intrinsic to the genocidal violence they are intended to conceal,” Albanese wrote.

“The elimination of witnesses, the suppression of freedom of expression and the abandonment of fundamental journalistic ethics may amount, in many ways, to ‘mediacide’: the systematic destruction of the media’s public function.”</p> <hr> <p><em>This <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/us-journalist-detained-by-israeli-forces-after-being-beaten-by-israeli-settlers/">article</a> was originally published by <a href="https://truthout.org">Truthout</a> and is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/" rel="license">Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)</a>.

Please maintain all links and credits in accordance with our <a href="https://truthout.org/republishing-policy">republishing guidelines</a>.</em></p> Copy this HTML code to republish the article on your website Close Copy HTML This article is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) , and you are free to share and republish under the terms of the license. Sharon Zhang Sharon Zhang is a news writer at Truthout covering international affairs, politics, and labor.

She has a master’s degree in environmental studies. She can be found on Twitter and Bluesky . Truthout