There was a flurry of outrage after Israeli settlers on Friday beat an American photojournalist working for The Washington Post while s...
There was a flurry of outrage after Israeli settlers on Friday beat an American photojournalist working for The Washington Post while she was covering ongoing violence against Palestinian olive farmers in the occupied West Bank.
Heidi Levine, a veteran photographer, was taken to hospital in Ramallah following the attack, with AFP photos showing her lying on a gurney with injuries to her leg and hand.
The incident comes 10 days after settlers beat an AFP photographer covering the West Bank olive harvest, Jaafar Ashtiyeh, leaving him also requiring hospital treatment.
Read: Israeli settlers attack West Bank village, blocking family's return home
Speaking to journalists from her hospital bed, Levine said that "more than 50" masked settlers holding sticks suddenly attacked her while she was working near the Palestinian villages of Abu Falah and Turmus Ayya in the central West Bank.
"All of a sudden they jumped me, and I luckily had my helmet and flak jacket on and I ... kept my face to the ground to try to protect my face," she said.
"They just kept kicking me and kicking me," she added.
The Washington Post reported that Levine had been wearing a flak jacket with "Press" clearly marked on the front and back.
A spokesman for the US embassy in Jerusalem said it was aware of reports of the attack, declining to comment further due to privacy laws.
"We have no higher responsibility than protecting American citizens," he said.
AFP did not witness the moment of the attack, but one of the agency's journalists in the area saw Palestinian medics tending to someone on the ground and Israeli soldiers pushing away journalists trying to approach.
The Israeli military said troops and border police forces were deployed to the area "following a report of a violent confrontation".
"Foreign media personnel were present at the scene, and a female journalist had been injured during the confrontation," it said, adding the circumstances would be examined.
"Attacks and violence against innocent civilians are grave and unacceptable acts," the military said.
The Israeli police said it had opened an investigation into incidents in Abu Falah and Turmus Ayya.
"We were on our land, picking olives, and suddenly the settlers came down on us and started hitting us, throwing stones," said Mukhllis Zuhdi, a farmer from Abu Falah.
"There was even a foreign journalist whom they beat. These people have no mercy or compassion in their hearts," he told AFP.
'Brazen violence'
The Foreign Press Association, which represents international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories, said the settlers stole Levine's passport, phone, wallet and equipment.
"This is the latest in a long line of violent attacks by Israeli settlers against journalists and other civilians in the occupied West Bank," it said.
"Yet our repeated calls for action to confront this lawlessness have been ignored by Israeli authorities," it added.
Reporters Without Borders said it strongly condemned the attack and called on Israeli authorities to "put an end to this impunity and prosecute the perpetrators of this heinous assault".
"This brazen violence ... is evidence of the impunity with which extremist Jewish settlers operate, often under the protection of Israeli armed forces," added the advocacy group, known by its French initials RSF.
Violence has flared in recent months in the West Bank, with near-daily attacks, thefts or vandalism by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
Settlers have also been seizing olive groves owned by Palestinians, who see the trees as a cultural symbol.
Excluding East Jerusalem, around three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, alongside more than 500,000 Israelis residing in settlements considered illegal under international law.
Washington Post ‘outraged’ after attack on photographer
Meanwhile, The Washington Post said it was “outraged” after Heidi was attacked by Israeli occupiers while reporting in the occupied West Bank.
“This morning, a Washington Post photographer, Heidi Levine, was attacked by Israeli settlers while reporting in the West Bank,” the newspaper’s Executive Editor Matt Murray said in a statement.
“She was wearing visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist,” he added.
Murray said the Post was “relieved that Heidi had received medical care and was safe”, but stressed: “We are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities.”
Palestinian rights group Al-Baydar said Heidi was assaulted by the occupiers in the presence of Israeli troops and was taken to Al-Istishari Hospital.
Heidi was one of two journalists injured on Friday in attacks by Israeli occupiers across the Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorates, which also left at least 12 Palestinians wounded, many of them farmers harvesting olives, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, the Civil Defence and Al-Baydar.
The Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said this week it had documented at least 136 attacks linked to the olive harvest season by Israeli forces and occupiers since the beginning of October.
The olive harvest is a vital source of income for thousands of Palestinian families in the West Bank, where farmers face growing attacks and restrictions on access to their land during the season.
Attacks by Israeli forces and occupiers against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have intensified since the start of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023.
UN calls for investigation into attack on Heidi Levine
Meanwhile, the UN called for a thorough investigation into the attack on Heidi by Israeli occupiers, stressing that journalists must be able to carry out their work without harassment.
Read More: Israeli settlements bring chaos to Palestinians
"We are aware of her condition, and obviously, this is yet another case where a journalist's right to go about her duties without harassment has been violated," UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.
"We want to make sure that this will be investigated thoroughly, and that all further harassment of journalists is prevented," he added.
Asked what measures the UN was taking to protect journalists amid continuing occupier violence in the occupied West Bank, Haq said the organisation raised the issue with member states and worked through its human rights bodies and specialised agencies.
"We call on all member states to uphold the rights of journalists," he said.
Haq also pointed to the work of UN human rights bodies and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, which plays a leading role in promoting journalists' rights and safety.
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