Settlers attack olive pickers and US journalist Heidi Levine in West Bank village of Abu Falah

What happened in Abu Falah

On Friday, 16 October, masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers picking olives in Abu Falah, a village east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Al Jazeera reported that about 80 settlers, some armed with clubs, charged at the harvesters, while Haaretz, citing witnesses, put the number at around 30 masked settlers who ordered the workers to leave. According to Wafa, the attackers threw stones, used slingshots and set olive trees alight, and the Palestinians answered with rocks. Live gunfire could be heard in videos from the scene, and a Reuters photographer saw at least one armed settler fire a gun. Haaretz reported that Israeli security forces came to the village afterwards but arrested none of the attackers.

Journalist and Palestinians injured

Heidi Levine, a 64-year-old veteran journalist who works as a freelance photojournalist for the Washington Post, fell to the ground during the attack and was then beaten, witnesses said. Her cameras and phone were taken during the assault, the Washington Post reported, and she had been wearing a protective vest marked PRESS. Jasper Nathaniel, an independent journalist who saw the attack, described her condition on the ground.

She was in very, very bad shape. She couldn't really get up off the ground.

Levine was taken to hospital in Ramallah, where she was reported to be in stable condition. The Red Crescent, cited by Wafa, said a 63-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man were beaten and taken to hospital. A witness told Al Jazeera that a Palestinian man was also shot in the thigh by Israeli soldiers.

Israeli military response

Witnesses said Israeli soldiers arrived in jeeps after the settler assault, fired tear gas and shot at Palestinians. Wafa cited Palestinian claims that soldiers fired live bullets and tear gas grenades to force people to leave, and that both soldiers and settlers fired live rounds. De Standaard noted that it was unclear whether the settlers had shot anyone. The Israeli military told n-tv that it was looking into the reports, while NOS reported that the army had not yet responded to the incident. The claims could not be independently verified at the time of reporting.

Olive harvest and wider violence

Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organisation that monitors settler violence, recorded 486 violent attacks by settlers and Israeli soldiers across the West Bank in the 18 days to 16 October, 234 of them linked to the olive harvest. Attacks on Friday also reached Burka, east of Ramallah, where four people were reportedly wounded, and Turmus Ayya, where settlers set cars alight, according to Wafa. The Palestinian health ministry says more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since 7 October 2023 in Israeli military operations, armed clashes or attacks, according to n-tv. Al Jazeera reported that the UK and France have announced sanctions targeting purchases of goods from illegal settlements.