11 reported wounded including US journalist in settler attacks on olive harvesters across West Bank

Matan Golan and Reuters report in Haaretz on 16 October 2026:

Israeli settlers were filmed assailing olive harvesters across the West Bank on Friday morning [16 October], wounding at least ten Palestinians and an American photojournalist working for The Washington Post, medics said.

According to the Red Crescent, two men, 40 and 70 years old, were wounded alongside photojournalist Heidi Levine in an attack in the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah. Video shows a group of settlers descending from an outpost in Area B, which is under Palestinian civil control and Israeli military control, and heading toward farmland near the village.

Video of the attack showed Levine lying on her side on a dirt path with her hands over her face as at least three settlers surrounded her.

The Red Crescent also reported that five more Palestinians were wounded in attacks in Burqa and Beit Ummar. Near Turmus Ayya, vehicles were seen on fire, and the Red Crescent reported three people wounded by beatings.

Police have opened investigations into the incidents in Abu Falah and Turmus Ayya. The IDF said it would look into the attack on Levine, but stressed that enforcement is also the responsibility of other agencies. “Attacks on innocent people are intolerable and require a multi-agency solution,” it said.

Speaking from a hospital bed later, Levine, who is in stable condition, said: “I was attacked, pushed to the ground. Luckily I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn’t even be here, because they just kept ‌kicking me ⁠and kicking me.”  “They forced me to get up and then kicked me again,” Levine added. “The next thing I remember is Palestinians arriving and rescuing me. It was absolute madness, and I didn’t see anyone trying to stop it.”

According to Levine, the attack ended when her Palestinian colleagues intervened, after which medics rushed her in an ambulance to a clinic in Abu Falah and then to hospital in Ramallah.   “In the past, before things became so violent, you could see mothers and babies, and the olive harvest looked just like a family picnic,” she said.

Speaking to Haaretz, an eyewitness said that about 30 masked settlers descended from the outpost and approached the olive harvesters, ordering them to leave and attacking them.

Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers later arrived and used crowd-control measures against Palestinians, the eyewitness said. The forces did not arrest the settlers, who continued their attacks even after the forces arrived, he added.

Palestinian reports said settlers also attacked olive harvesters in Burqa, east of Ramallah. The Red Crescent said four people were wounded in the attack. Further attacks on harvesters were reported in the village of Rammun, east of Ramallah.

Since the start of the olive harvest earlier this month, numerous attacks by settlers on Palestinian harvesters have been reported.  Under Civil Administration guidelines issued in 2025, the army is required to allow Palestinians access to their land, “protect them from aggression and act against criminal elements seeking to prevent this.”

Haaretz reported that, contrary to these guidelines, the army was threatening to close Palestinian olive groves whose owners invite volunteers to accompany them during the harvest.  The Civil Administration guidelines state that “the mere presence of activists cannot be considered a provocation or a reason for closing an area.”

The Binyamin Regional Council issued a statement, accusing the Palestinian Authority of “bringing hundreds of anarchists and terrorists into direct confrontation with Israelis in the area of the village of Abu Falah under the cover of the olive harvest.”  It also accused the Palestinians of setting off fireworks and throwing stones at the Israelis. The statement did not explain why the Israelis had come to olive groves in Area B, which is under Palestinian civilian control and Israeli security control, but said that “the incident was orchestrated by the Palestinian Authority.”

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