Abu Falah attack

Masked settlers wielding clubs and other weapons attacked Palestinian farmers attempting to harvest their olives in towns across the West Bank on Friday, burning cars and trees. At least six people were injured in Abu Falah near Ramallah, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

At least 80 settlers, some carrying firearms or clubs, gathered in Abu Falah to stop the harvest, hurling rocks at farmers with slingshots in view of Israeli military vehicles. When Palestinians picked up rocks to defend themselves, the Israeli military fired teargas in their direction.

Hours earlier, settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives near Turmus Ayya and burned three cars.

Washington Post photographer injured

Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was among those hurt in Abu Falah. Witnesses said settlers beat her for more than 10 minutes and stole her passport, phone, wallet and equipment. The Washington Post said Levine had been wearing visible markings clearly identifying her as a journalist.

From a hospital bed in Ramallah, Levine described the assault:

A harvest under pressure

The Friday violence fits a wider pattern during this year's West Bank olive harvest, which has seen an uptick in violence as Israel's elections approach at the end of October:

• Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, says settlers have carried out at least 170 attacks since 27 September, around the start of the annual harvest.
• Palestinian authorities said at least four Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 others injured over the past month.
• Thousands of trees have been damaged, and photos and videos showed uprooted olive trees in Kufur Malek, outside Ramallah, where Israeli bulldozers had razed trees.
• Videos shared by B'tselem showed hundreds of bags of olives violently stolen by settlers from Palestinians and taken to Israeli olive presses.

Israel also barred Palestinians this year from harvesting trees located in Area C, which is under Israeli military control and comprises most of the West Bank's agricultural land. New orders prohibit Palestinians from entering about 8,800 hectares (21,800 acres) of agricultural land without military approval, a 30% increase from the year prior. According to Peace Now, land closed to Israeli citizens for the purpose of preventing settler violence fell from about 1,070 hectares in 2025 to 680 hectares in 2026.

The harvest is an economic lifeline for Palestinian farmers and has grown in importance since Israel revoked work permits for many West Bank Palestinians after the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023.

Accountability questions

The Israeli Foreign Press Association condemned the attack on Levine, saying: "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 its repeated calls for action to confront the lawlessness had been ignored by Israeli authorities.

Rights groups say settlers enjoy the protection of the Israeli military, which intervenes only if Palestinians try to defend themselves, and that settlers rarely face accountability. Benjamin Netanyahu has on occasion condemned the violence, which he attributes to about 100 settlers, but has taken few steps to stop it. Settlements have rapidly expanded under his rightwing government; the UN and most countries judge settlements to violate international law.

Sarit Michaeli, an independent activist, said settlers were stealing the olive crop on a scale she had never seen before in her 22 years working on the issue.

A spokesperson for the US embassy in Jerusalem said it was aware of reports of the attack and declined to comment further, citing privacy laws.