{"id":649140,"date":"2026-10-17T10:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T10:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/649140\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T10:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T10:22:12","slug":"us-israeli-officials-condemn-west-bank-violence-after-journalist-wounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/649140\/","title":{"rendered":"US, Israeli officials condemn West Bank violence after journalist wounded"},"content":{"rendered":"

US, Israeli, and Palestinian officials condemned the violent confrontation between extremist Israeli settlers and Palestinians near the village of Abu Falah in the West Bank on Friday, after Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was wounded during the clashes.<\/a><\/p>\n

While the Israeli condemnations largely called for further investigation to determine the facts, US and Palestinian condemnations accused Israeli settlers of having attacked Levine.<\/p>\n

United States Representative Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, described the reported attack on Levine as \u201cunconscionable and a moment of reckoning for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre we going to tolerate accelerating vigilante violence against Palestinian civilians and foreign observers by right-wing vigilantes who operate with government protection?\u201d he wrote in a post on X\/Twitter.<\/p>\n

Sen. Andy Kim, a Democrat from New Jersey, said: \u201cReports that this was a coordinated attack are incredibly concerning, as are reports that IDF<\/a> soldiers did not intervene.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"RepresentativeRepresentative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has a heated exchange with U.S. Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY), not pictured, during a U.S. House Judiciary subcommittee hearing on sanctuary city policies, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 30, 2026. (credit: REUTERS\/AARON SCHWARTZ)<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue to call for an investigation and accountability,\u201d Kim wrote.<\/p>\n

Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, called for the US to cut off aid to Israel that was used to fund settler activity and halt weapons sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to cut off aid to Israel that is used to fund settler activity, and stop the sales of these weapons,\u201d Khanna wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Khanna further accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> of calling Levine “a liar” in a separate X post following a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Friday, which condemned the violence while noting that the facts still “remain unclear and are under investigation.”<\/p>\n

“Netanyahu, you are the liar with the blood of Palestinian children on your hands,” Khanna claimed.<\/p>\n

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois called out Israel for failing to maintain order. \u201cIsraeli authorities must hold those responsible for this attack accountable and stop enabling broader efforts to annex the West Bank,\u201d she wrote on X. \u201cThe safety of Palestinians, Israelis and Americans in the region depends on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

IDF investigating violent West Bank incident between extremist settlers, Palestinians<\/p>\n

The IDF said its forces and Border Police officers were dispatched to the area near Khirbet Abu Falah following reports of a violent confrontation.<\/p>\n

“Foreign media personnel were present at the scene, and a female journalist had been injured during the confrontation,” the military said.<\/p>\n

Upon arriving, forces \u201cacted to disperse the confrontation using riot dispersal means,\u201d it added. The IDF said the circumstances surrounding the incident would be investigated.<\/p>\n

At a separate location where a confrontation took place, IDF soldiers fired warning shots into the air and “subsequently toward a suspect who ran toward them carrying a sharp object and posed a threat to them,” the statement added.<\/p>\n

The IDF condemned violence against civilians, saying that \u201cattempts to incite friction between populations undermine security in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Illustrative:Illustrative: A Palestinian man inspects a burned vehicle following an alleged attack by extremist Jewish settlers in the West Bank village of Mikhmas, northeast of Jerusalem, October 14, 2026. (credit: JAMAL AWAD\/FLASH90)Netanyahu calls for investigation as facts remain unclear<\/p>\n

The circumstances surrounding the confrontation remain under investigation, with the PMO saying on X that \u201cIsrael unequivocally condemns violence against anyone. Jews, Arabs, Christians, or journalists. Those responsible will be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The office said reports indicated that approximately 200 Arabs and left-wing activists had confronted around 40 Israeli youths.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigation must establish the facts, including who initiated the violence,\u201d the office said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will not allow disputed incidents to be exploited to demonize the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n

Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot<\/a> responded to the confrontation, saying in a post on X, \u201cWe condemn criminal violence and call for the investigation and prosecution of those \u201cThis handful of rioters does not represent the public in Israel,\u201d Eisenkot said. \u201cThe actions of this handful stain an entire nation and severely harm the security of all Israeli citizens and IDF fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Hell for us’: Palestinian mayor describes the incident<\/p>\n

Nazem Saleh Shuman, the mayor of Abu Falah adjacent to the site of the violence, also reacted to the incident, telling The New York Times that, \u201cThis place became unlivable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a residential place, where the people live next to their fields, next to their land.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it’s become a hell for us,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is our land, we were born here, our ancestors came from here, and we’ve lived here all our lives,\u201d he added. \u201cWe believe in this place, and we take care of it. We have nowhere else to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

The NYT cited numbers from Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, which monitors settler violence, which said it had documented 82 violent incidents against olive harvesters, 135 instances of crop theft and 39 cases of damage to or destruction of trees.<\/p>\n

The investigation into the Abu Falah confrontation was ongoing as officials and lawmakers called for those responsible to be identified and held accountable on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, which administers Israeli settlements in the area, blamed the Palestinian Authority for the confrontation.<\/p>\n

The council said the Palestinian Authority had \u201cled hundreds of anarchists and terrorists into a direct confrontation with Israelis near Abu Falah, all under the cover of the olive harvest.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Footage from the scene shows terrorists launching fireworks directly at people and hurling stones at Israelis, while journalists stand behind them, documenting this deliberate provocation,” it said.<\/p>\n

The council also alleged that the PA orchestrated the incident, claiming PA patrol vehicles were present at the scene.<\/p>\n

The council said clashes between Israelis and Palestinians had eventually been dispersed by Border Police officers and that several activists had been injured.<\/p>\n

\"AftermathAftermath of Israeli settlers’ attack on Palestinians harvesting olives near Turmus Ayya Friday, 16th October 2026 (credit: REUTERS\/AMMAR AWAD)Levine describes being kicked and having equipment taken<\/p>\n

Levine, a veteran photojournalist who was covering the olive harvest, said she was knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked during the confrontation by masked and hooded attackers.<\/p>\n

The identity of the attackers remains unknown as an investigation into the incident continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter about 10 minutes, they tried to make me get up; they pushed me back to the ground and continued kicking me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to hold on to my cameras and my side bag, but in the end they just ripped everything from me and kept kicking me,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Levine underwent surgery on Saturday on a finger on her left hand that was nearly severed in a settler attack in the West Bank on Friday.<\/p>\n

Her daughter, Ashley Milner, told the Associated Press that the finger was severed to the bone, leaving a tendon exposed. Levine also suffers from a broken rib, fractures to several vertebrae, and cuts throughout her body, the daughter said.<\/p>\n

Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray condemned the incident in a statement reported by N12 News, saying Levine wore visible identification marks that clearly identified her as a journalist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are appalled by this unjustified attack on a journalist who was doing her job,\u201d Murray said. \u201cWe call on the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and act on its findings.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US Embassy in Jerusalem told N12 that it was aware of the incident and was monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n

Yoav Etiel, Amir Bohbot, and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"US, Israeli, and Palestinian officials condemned the violent confrontation between extremist Israeli settlers and Palestinians near the village…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":649141,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1031,85,46,12275,43,2200,77721,1032,15129,77],"class_list":["post-649140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-idf","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-journalism","tag-news","tag-palestinians","tag-settler-violence","tag-united-states","tag-washington-post","tag-west-bank"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=649140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/649140\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/649141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=649140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=649140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=649140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}