Israeli settlers brutally attacked Palestinian olive pickers and a photojournalist working for The Washington Post in the occupied West Bank on Friday, beating villagers and setting olive groves on fire. The attack was one of several targeting Palestinians trying to harvest their olive harvest, with more attacks and arson attacks also reported in nearby communities. illegal settlements that are largely protected – or at least unrestricted – by Israeli forces. Veteran journalist Heidi Levine, 64, was taken to hospital after Friday’s assault in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah. A Palestinian man was also shot in the thigh by Israeli soldiers, according to a witness who spoke to Al Jazeera and the Palestinian news agency Wafa. This is what we know. What happened during the attack? Dozens of masked settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, throwing stones, using slingshots and burning trees. Levine, an American freelance photojournalist working for The Washington Post, fell to the ground during the attack before being attacked, witnesses said. “We looked and saw that there was a journalist… on the ground with people surrounding her, hitting her, hitting her, robbing her, throwing her up, hitting her again and kicking her,” Jasper Nathaniel, a freelance journalist who witnessed the attack, told Al Jazeera. Levine later told reporters that his attackers “kept kicking and kicking me, probably about 50 times.” Levine was wearing a protective vest marked “PRESS” on the front and back. His cameras and phone were taken during the assault, the Washington Post reported. Nathaniel said he and others managed to catch up with her when the settlers briefly retreated, but she struggled to her feet. “He was in very, very bad shape. He couldn’t really get up off the ground,” she said. As they helped her reach paramedics, the settlers charged again and threw more stones, she added. Levine was eventually taken to hospital in Ramallah. Nathaniel said Israeli soldiers arrived after the settler assault and opened fire and used tear gas on the Palestinians, shooting one man in the leg. “They do nothing to stop the settlers, they rush into the city and start firing their guns and tear gas, and they shoot a Palestinian man in the leg,” he said. “They are pointing their guns at the paramedics who are helping him, pushing journalists, including myself,” Nathaniel said, adding that the man was eventually taken away in an ambulance. Wafa also reported that Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinians during the attack. After the soldiers left, the Palestinians went back to harvesting their olives, Nathaniel added. What has been the response? Matt Murray, executive editor of The Washington Post, said in a statement: “We are outraged by this unjustified attack on a journalist doing her job and urge authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and follow-up.” Several US lawmakers expressed outrage. Palestinians alike are “unacceptable.” “When will Trump and Rubio do ANYTHING?” He urged the administration to hold those responsible accountable. In posts on Khanna called for an end to US assistance, saying: “We need to cut aid to Israel that is used to finance settler activity, and stop sales of these weapons.” Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro also called for accountability. “If settlers do this to an American journalist in front of a camera, in broad daylight, imagine what Palestinian families face when no one is looking,” he wrote in a post on X. “Those responsible for this attack must be held accountable.” Where else have olive pickers been attacked? There was also violence elsewhere in the occupied West Bank on Friday. In Burqa, east of Ramallah, four Palestinians were reported injured in an attack by settlers on olive pickers. In nearby Turmus Aya, settlers attacked farmers and burned vehicles and olive trees. A civil defense volunteer was also injured, according to Wafa. The attacks followed the killing of Ali Hassan Yasser al-Bazzari, 44, during an assault on Palestinians picking olives near Burqa, northwest of Nablus, on October 7. Witnesses reported that settlers and Israeli soldiers attacked the pickers. Journalists documenting the violence have also been attacked. On October 6, armed settlers beat Palestinian AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh, 58, with the butts of their rifles near Aqraba, south of Nablus. He was taken to hospital with injuries to his head and torso, according to witnesses, family members and colleagues. Firefighters spray water on a burned car after Israelis from illegal settlements attacked a group of Palestinians harvesting olives near Turmus Aya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on October 16, 2026. [File: Ammar Awad/Reuters]How widespread are the attacks? Pogroms by Israeli settlers have been going on for many weeks and have intensified as the seasonal Palestinian olive harvest begins. The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has recorded at least 170 pogroms since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest, Reuters reported. The violence threatens Palestinian livelihoods and access to their land. Farmers endure attacks, tree destruction and crop theft, while settlers have also begun stealing olives from Palestinian-owned plantations. Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported that intimidation extends beyond agricultural land to Palestinian homes and vehicles, creating pressure on communities to leave. “People there still live under threat of attack, not only on their agricultural lands, but also on their properties,” he said. “They have been used by the Israeli military, apparently, to create a deterrent environment in which Palestinians are expected to abandon these areas and then convert them into Israeli settlements.”
