Palestinians and US journalist injured by Israeli settlers in West Bank harvest attack

What the report says

BBC World News reported that masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians during the annual olive harvest near Abu Falah in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to cars and olive trees and leaving multiple people injured. A BBC team said it witnessed part of the violence in farmland near the Palestinian village, while local officials said 12 Palestinians were hurt, including four people with Palestinian and American citizenship. The report also said a foreign journalist was among those injured.

According to the BBC, the confrontation unfolded as farmers tried to gather olives on land near villages surrounded by Israeli settlements and outposts. Witnesses described settlers using sticks, rocks and other weapons, while Palestinian farmers fled the fields and several vehicles were burned. The article said Israeli forces later arrived, used tear gas and said they were reviewing the incident. The US State Department said it was aware of the reports and condemned criminal violence by any side in the West Bank.

The BBC also identified Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine as injured while reporting, and quoted her describing being attacked for several minutes. The Washington Post said she was clearly identifiable as a journalist and called for a thorough investigation. The report placed the episode within a broader pattern of escalating settler attacks during this year’s olive harvest, which the UN says have already injured more than 120 people and killed one Palestinian across the West Bank. In general, the harvest season has long been a flashpoint in the occupied territory because of disputes over land access, settlement expansion and repeated violence.