Attack near Abu Falah

On Friday, 16 October 2026, settlers attacked Palestinian farmers picking olives near Abu Falah, a village close to Ramallah in the West Bank. Heidi Levine, a photojournalist for The Washington Post, was documenting the harvest when she was hit. The Palestinian agency Wafa said the violence also reached the villages of Burqa and Turmus Aya, and that vehicles and olive trees were set on fire. Europa Press reported that several Palestinians were hurt as well. Video posted on X by international activists shows settlers and Palestinians throwing stones at each other while gunshots are heard from an unidentified source.

Injuries and losses

The Foreign Press Association said Levine suffered moderate injuries and was treated at a local hospital for blows and wounds across her body, some of them penetrating. The association also said settlers stole her passport, phone, wallet and equipment. The Quds network posted a photo of her in hospital. Il Messaggero reported that she told Reuters she had been pushed to the ground and kicked, and that she said she might not be alive without her bulletproof vest and helmet. The Times of Israel reported that she was filmed while masked men beat her with sticks, and ANSA reported that she is about 60 years old. Citing the Red Crescent, Wafa reported that two Palestinians, a 63-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man, were beaten and taken to hospital.

Competing accounts

Palestinians said Israeli forces fired live bullets and tear gas to force them out of the area, while Europa Press reported that security forces launched tear gas. The Israeli army said troops and police were deployed after it received reports of a violent clash, and it confirmed that a foreign journalist was among those injured. The army said all details of the incident would be examined. Hamas condemned the attacks and accused Israeli forces of directly taking part in the assaults and protecting the settlers. The Israeli army separately condemned violence against civilians, calling it intolerable and promising to work with the competent authorities to stop it.

Calls for accountability

The Foreign Press Association called the incident the latest in a series of violent settler attacks on journalists and other civilians in the West Bank. It told the army to stop making excuses and to do its job of protecting civilians from violent mobs. The group urged the Israeli government to detain the attackers and put them on trial. In a statement published on social media, it also asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop describing the attacks as the actions of troubled young people and to acknowledge a problem it said had been ignored for too long.

What remains unclear

None of the reports say whether anyone has been arrested in connection with the attack. The gunshots in the video come from a source that has not been identified. The Israeli army said all details would be examined, and none of the articles report a conclusion. Accounts of who started the violence also differ, with the video showing stones thrown by both groups.