Olive harvest: Injured in West Bank settler violence

During the olive harvest in the West Bank, the violence of Israeli settlers against Palestinian aid workers is increasing. People have been injured in several places, including a US journalist. Attacks by radical Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have reportedly resulted in a number of casualties. The violence was mainly directed against Palestinian aid workers in the olive harvest. In the attacks, a journalist from the Washington Post was injured yesterday. Several masked people attacked the village of Abu Falah yesterday and beat them, Heidi Levine reported. The attackers were armed with bottles and slingshots. “They kicked me for about ten minutes,” said the photojournalist of the US newspaper. “I tried to hold my cameras and my bag.” According to Levine, the Press Association demands legal consequences, she was recognized as a journalist by the inscription on her vest. She had to be treated in the hospital. Her helmet and protective vest would have protected her from worse injuries. The Israeli military confirmed that a journalist was injured and condemned the violence. The Washington Post and the Foreign Press Association called on Israel to bring the attackers to justice. “This is the latest in a long series of violent attacks by Israeli settlers on journalists and other civilians in the occupied West Bank,” the group said. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was very concerned about what was happening. The US government has called on Israel to take action against such incidents. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot also called on the Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of the civilian population. His Belgian counterpart Maxime Prévot said that impunity for violent settlers must end. Local authorities, media and the Palestinian Red Crescent reported further attacks and injured in at least eight villages in the north of the West Bank. Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing eyewitnesses, wrote of an incident in which around 30 masked settlers attacked harvesters and ordered them to leave. Israeli security forces came along but did not arrest any of the attackers. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, vehicles and olive trees have also been set on fire in the attacks in the region. The violence mainly affects the areas where most of the olive groves in the Palestinian territory are located. Tens of thousands of Palestinian families live off their earnings. Vehicle attacked by EU diplomats According to Israeli army radio, a group of Israeli settlers also attacked vehicles of European diplomats today. According to military correspondent Doron Kadosh on X, seven masked men surrounded a diplomatic vehicle with their SUVs, demanded ID and smashed a window pane. Video shows a diplomat lying on the ground. The Israeli military confirmed in a statement the attack on the diplomats, calling it a “grave act of violence,” but said the visit was not coordinated with the army and there were no soldiers on the ground. Israeli police said they had opened an investigation and promised to work until “all those involved in these incidents are brought to justice.” On X, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the “serious acts of violence by Israeli rioters” and added that his ministry was in contact with the ambassadors of the affected countries. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office later issued a statement warning of “premature conclusions” related to the incident and raising concerns about “a coordinated campaign to defame Israel.” Netanyahu also accuses young people that the circumstances of the dispute, in which the US journalist Levine was allegedly attacked, are unclear and will be investigated, according to Netanyahu’s office. Some 200 Arabs and far-left activists reportedly faced about 40 Israeli youth. The government will not allow controversial incidents to be exploited to demonize the hundreds of thousands of law-abiding Jewish residents of the areas. Netanyahu’s main rival in the upcoming parliamentary elections in eleven days, Gadi Eisenkot, condemned the settler violence and called for tough police action against it. But he also said restrictively: “These handful of rioters do not represent the Israeli public.” The situation in the occupied West Bank has developed since the Hamas massacre on 7 November. October 2023 and the Gaza war again intensified. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 1,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli military operations, armed conflicts or attacks of their own. At the same time, the violence of radical Israeli settlers against Palestinians has greatly increased. The Israeli military is repeatedly accused of not acting decisively enough against it.