Photographer Heidi Levine was mobbed despite wearing clear press identification just ten days after an AFP journalist was injured in a similar attack
Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine has been badly beaten by Israeli settlers and stripped of her equipment while covering attacks on Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank.
The assault occurred on Friday near the village of Abu Falah, the latest in an ongoing string of attacks staged by organized settler groups. Masked settlers have repeatedly attacked Palestinian villages, hurling stones and setting orchards on fire in an apparent effort to disrupt the autumn harvest. The Israeli military, which is usually present, has taken little to no action against the settlers.
Levine, a veteran photographer who has covered conflicts across the Middle East and elsewhere for decades, was caught in a settler charge on the Palestinians. The mob threw the journalist, who was wearing a blue protective vest clearly marked ‘PRESS,’ to the ground, repeatedly kicking her while stealing her cameras and phone.
“They just kept kicking me and kicking me, like probably 50 times,” Levine told reporters after the incident.
Footage from the scene shows the immediate aftermath, with Levine seen prone on the ground after the settlers were repelled by the villagers. The journalist was badly shaken but apparently spared more serious injuries thanks to her protective vest and helmet.
Severe settler + soldier attack on olive harvesters in Abu Falah. American WaPo journalist Heidi Levine badly wounded. Machine gunfire—at least one Palestinian shot. Tear gas. Soldiers assaulting journalists. pic.twitter.com/He61cNYk0c
The photographer was evacuated by Palestinian paramedics and treated at a hospital in Ramallah for her injuries. Later on, another group of journalists was reportedly pelted with stones by settlers at the site. Oren Ziv, a journalist who also witnessed the attack, reported that at least one Palestinian was wounded by gunfire. It was not immediately clear whether Israeli settlers or the military fired the shots, but the IDF reportedly did nothing to stop the violence.
The Washington Post strongly condemned the attack and called for a full investigation. “While we are relieved that Heidi has received medical care and is safe, we are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities,” Matt Murray, executive editor of the Post, said in a statement.
Ten days earlier, veteran Palestinian photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh, who has been working with AFP, suffered a similar assault during a settler raid on Palestinian olive farmers. The journalist, marked as press, was attacked by armed Israeli settlers, who beat him with rifle butts and robbed him of his equipment. The violence was reportedly witnessed by an IDF unit that did not intervene.
Journalists documenting settler violence have increasingly become victims of it. The Committee to Protect Journalists documented at least 16 incidents involving 35 Palestinian, Israeli, and international journalists in the first eight months of 2026 alone, with the figures already surpassing those recorded in 2025.
