The Israeli military said it “strongly condemns” the settler attack on Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine in the West Bank. According to the army, riot-control means were used to disperse the confrontation, soldiers fired warning shots and fired toward a suspect carrying a sharp object. The army and police opened investigations.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office also condemned the violence but said the facts “remain unclear” and that the investigation must determine who started it. Levine, 64, who was photographing the olive harvest near the village of Abu Falah, was knocked down and beaten by masked settlers; she said she was kicked for about 10 minutes with no Israeli soldiers nearby.
Olive trees and cars set ablaze

The same day, settlers torched vehicles and olive trees in Turmus Ayya, while two cars and part of a grove burned near Abu Falah. The Palestine Red Crescent treated three people in Abu Falah, including a man shot in the thigh, and four in Burqa. Levine was hospitalized in Ramallah with a leg wound and an injured hand; her cameras and phone were stolen.
Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray said the paper was outraged. Rights group Yesh Din recorded 486 violent incidents against Palestinians in 18 days, 234 of them during the olive harvest.