Settlers attacked at least eight West Bank villages Friday. Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was beaten and hospitalized.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting fire to cars and trees and beating residents and a Washington Post photographer, in the latest violence to disrupt the territory’s annual olive harvest, The Associated Press reported.
Local officials and the Palestine Red Crescent Society reported attacks in at least eight villages in the northern West Bank, where most olive groves are. The Red Crescent said its medics treated 14 wounded people in six locations, and local officials reported at least four more injuries in two other villages.
In Abu Falah, masked settlers approached residents and peace activists heading out for the harvest, and several beat photographer Heidi Levine, who was hospitalized. Levine said the attackers, armed with bottles and slingshots, kicked her for about 10 minutes, and that her helmet and a vest marked “PRESS” likely saved her from worse injuries. The Washington Post and the Foreign Press Association called on Israel to bring the attackers to justice. Israel’s military condemned the violence, acknowledged a journalist was injured and said the suspects fled before troops arrived. The U.S. State Department condemned “criminal violence by any party” and said it offered consular assistance to the Post.
Residents said soldiers later fired live ammunition at village council member Abdel Jaber Hassan, who was unarmed. The military said soldiers fired because someone was running toward them with a sharp object. Another council member, Nazem Saleh Shoman, denied that account and said Hassan was shot at close range while carrying olive-harvesting tools.
At least four Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest began this month, the Palestinian Health Ministry said last week. The U.N. humanitarian office reported more than 1,600 attacks between January and August, and rights groups say authorities rarely arrest or indict the perpetrators. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office condemned the violence but said it would not allow “disputed incidents” to be used to demonize law-abiding Israeli residents of the West Bank. The violence has spiked before Israel’s Oct. 27 election.
This report is based on information from The Associated Press.