Settlers attack Palestinian olive harvesters in West Bank; journalist among injured
About 80 masked settlers armed with clubs attacked Palestinians picking olives in Abu Falah, injuring at least two people including a Washington Post journalist, according to Al Jazeera.
At a glance
- About 80 masked settlers armed with clubs attacked Palestinians harvesting olives in the village of Abu Falah in the occupied West Bank.
- At least two people, including Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine, were injured; she credited her helmet and flak jacket.
- ACLED says settler violence has reached record levels; the UK and France have announced sanctions on goods from illegal settlements.
Masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians as they picked olives in the occupied West Bank village of Abu Falah, injuring at least two people, including Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine, according to Al Jazeera. The attack is the latest in what the outlet describes as continuing settler pogroms in the territory.
About 80 masked settlers armed with clubs charged at the fruit pickers, Al Jazeera reported. Some used slingshots, and the Palestinians responded by throwing rocks. Israeli military jeeps sped into the area, but the attack continued, and soldiers fired tear gas in the direction of the Palestinians. More settlers armed with machine guns then arrived, according to independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who was on the ground and spoke to Al Jazeera.
Live gunfire could be heard, and a photographer saw at least one armed settler fire a gun, Reuters reported. Describing violence in the West Bank as "at or near an all-time high right now", Nathaniel said everyone ran when the settlers began firing, and Levine fell to the ground.
"We saw that there was a journalist ... on the ground [with] people beating her, clubbing her, robbing her, pulling her up, beating her again and kicking her," Nathaniel said. Levine later said that without her helmet and flak jacket, she "probably wouldn't even be here".
The olive harvest provides an economic lifeline in the territory and has become a regular target of Israelis from illegal settlements, Al Jazeera reported. Violence has increased amid what the outlet described as government encouragement for settlement expansion.
Amnesty findings and sanctions
Last month, Amnesty International said Israel had signed at least 15 land confiscation orders covering about 200 dunams (20 hectares) of Palestinian land in Jenin, in the northern West Bank. The rights group said it appeared Israel intended to connect two planned settlements in the area.
The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), an independent conflict-monitoring organisation, said recently that settler violence in the West Bank has reached record levels.
The growing violence and Israel's expansionist policies have drawn intense scrutiny in recent months. Allies including the UK and France have announced sanctions targeting the purchase of goods from illegal settlements, a policy change that Al Jazeera says marks a dramatic shift in stance by Western countries, which had previously refrained from going beyond verbal criticism of Israel's actions.
Source: Al Jazeera.
Questions and answers
- What happened in Abu Falah in the West Bank?
- About 80 masked settlers armed with clubs attacked Palestinians picking olives in the village of Abu Falah, according to Al Jazeera. At least two people were injured, including Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine.
- Who was injured in the West Bank settler attack?
- At least two people were injured, including Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine, who fell to the ground as settlers opened fire. She later said she probably wouldn't be here without her helmet and flak jacket.
- What has been said about settler violence levels in the West Bank?
- ACLED, an independent conflict-monitoring organisation, said recently that settler violence in the West Bank has reached record levels. Independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel described the violence as being at or near an all-time high.
