A group of individuals in dark clothing and face coverings descended on Palestinian villagers during the annual olive harvest in the West Bank on Friday, throwing rocks and setting fire to trees. At least two people, including a journalist, were reported to have sustained injuries.
Around 80 people, several carrying gas canisters, moved down from a hillside toward terraced olive groves where residents of Abu Falah had assembled for the harvest, an annual activity tied to agricultural life in the region. The group spread out along the rows of terraced olive groves.
Rocks were hurled by sling from some in the group toward residents of the nearby Palestinian village, who moved down the hillside and responded by throwing stones back. Moutaz Abdelhadi, a 42-year-old farmer from Abu Falah who was present during the incident, told reporters that the settlers were attempting to drive the villagers from their homes.
During the incident, a pair of Israeli military jeeps drove through at speed while residents scattered. Tear gas was deployed by soldiers toward people who had already moved away from the military vehicles, even after troops reached the scene. Shots rang out nearby, and witnesses reported that at least one person carrying a weapon discharged a firearm.
A statement from the Israeli military indicated that personnel and border police discharged what they characterised as cautionary rounds after arriving in the area, and that at one point fire was directed toward an individual the troops had assessed as posing a threat. The statement also held that attempts to stoke friction between communities undermine local security, and that acts of violence against civilians are unacceptable.
Two individuals received hospital treatment in the Ramallah area, according to medical personnel on the Palestinian side.
Among those present was Heidi Levine, a photojournalist working for a news organisation. Footage captured Levine on her side along an unpaved path, her hands raised to cover her face, with no fewer than three settlers gathered around her. Levine, speaking from a hospital bed while listed in stable condition, told reporters that she had been assaulted and knocked to the ground.
Levine recounted that her protective gear — a flak jacket and helmet — had likely saved her life during the assault, and that her Palestinian colleagues eventually stepped in to stop the beating. Paramedics transported her by ambulance to a clinic in Abu Falah before she was taken onward to a hospital in Ramallah. Bandaging was visible across her left hand as she spoke.
A written statement from the news organisation's top editorial officer sought a formal investigation into the incident, in which a photographer was physically attacked while on assignment in the West Bank. Press credentials and accreditation markings were displayed on her person in plain view. The organisation's statement expressed relief that the journalist had received medical attention and was out of danger, while calling for a thorough inquiry by authorities into what it described as an unprovoked assault on a reporter carrying out her work.
Separately, data from Yesh Din, a group that monitors Israeli settlement activity, recorded a minimum of 170 incidents of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from 27 September onward, a period that coincides with the start of the annual olive harvest.
Settlement construction across the West Bank — including both established communities and smaller informal outposts — expanded at a notable pace under the Netanyahu-led administration, a period during which settler activity also intensified. While Netanyahu has spoken out against the violence, concrete measures to address incidents that prompted international condemnation and discussions of sanctions among longstanding allies — Britain among them — have not materialised under his leadership.
Roughly 500,000 settlers and a Palestinian population estimated at no fewer than three million share the territory of the West Bank. Most countries and numerous United Nations bodies regard such settlements as contrary to the legal framework governing military occupations. The Israeli government's position is that the land falls under the category of contested terrain rather than territory held under occupation.
A separate incident unfolded near Turmus Ayya village the previous Friday, when a group of olive-harvesting farmers had three of their vehicles set alight by settlers who had confronted them. No reply came from military representatives when an opportunity to comment was extended. Salah Abu Niswa, who was present during the incident in Turmus Ayya, recounted that the individuals involved moved in quietly and without warning, isolating one person before a physical assault took place.
