A ten-minute beating in an olive grove
Friday morning, masked Israeli settlers swept into Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, attacking Palestinians picking olives with clubs and stones and setting groves alight. Heidi Levine, a US photographer on assignment for The Washington Post, was pushed to the ground while documenting the assault. Witnesses say the beating lasted more than ten minutes. "They just kept kicking me and kicking me, probably 50 times," she said from her hospital bed. "Luckily I had my flak jacket and my helmet." The attackers took her cameras, phone, passport and wallet; Palestinian colleagues pulled her free.
A nearly severed finger, broken bones
Per The Times of Israel and AP, Levine underwent surgery at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva on a finger nearly detached from her hand, tendon exposed. Her daughter told AP that Levine also suffered a broken rib, multiple broken vertebrae and lacerations; the hospital described her condition as moderate. She said it was the second time she had been "brutally attacked" in more than three decades covering the conflict, and in 2015 she won the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award.
Huckabee: "despicable act of terror" by masked cowards
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee wrote on X late Saturday that Levine suffered a "vicious and cowardly attack" — a US citizen clearly identified as a journalist. "Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards," he wrote, calling for "a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law." Those who attacked an unarmed reporter, he added, "should spend years in prison."
Rubio: the images are disturbing
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration was "very disturbed by those images" and that Donald Trump "does not want to see friction or crisis going on in the West Bank." Asked about Trump's first-day reversal of Biden-era sanctions on settlers, Rubio said it "does not mean he's a supporter of what he's seeing now." A State Department spokesperson told the BBC: "We condemn criminal violence by any party in the West Bank and call for investigations, arrests, and convictions."
Netanyahu: the facts "remain unclear"
Two days on, no arrests
Israeli police opened an investigation, with officers due to enter the area under military escort to collect evidence; the IDF said troops at the scene did not see the assault. Ynet reported West Bank commander Maj. Gen. Moshe Pinchi is personally overseeing the case, handled jointly by the district's central investigative unit and the Shin Bet. But as of Sunday, police had announced no arrests.
16 journalist incidents this year
Prosecutions almost never follow
European diplomats were stoned too
On Saturday, a delegation of Belgian, French and Polish diplomats and a French mayor visiting the Christian village of Taybeh was pelted with stones by masked settlers. Three people were injured and a diplomatic-plated vehicle damaged. Belgium's foreign minister Maxime Prévot condemned the violence and said Belgium would keep pushing EU sanctions on settlers. Nearby, three Palestinian vehicles were set on fire.
Three things to watch
Whether Washington's "arrest and prosecution" demand produces results; whether Israel's October 27 election campaign, with settler violence now an issue, changes enforcement; and whether the Post's call for a thorough investigation is followed through. Levine remains hospitalized; her family says paper owner Jeff Bezos is shocked and will do everything to see justice served.
