Israeli police detain 10 over settler attacks on US photojournalist and European diplomats

The weekend attacks

On Friday, 16 October, masked settlers attacked Heidi Levine, a 63-year-old photographer for The Washington Post, while she covered the olive harvest near the Palestinian village of Abu Falah. She was knocked down and kicked, and she told reporters that more than 50 masked men armed with sticks had set on her. Her injuries include four broken vertebrae, a broken rib and a finger that was nearly severed and required surgery, while the attackers took her camera, phone, passport and wallet.

I was practically, basically lynched by a gang of Jewish settlers in the area of Ramallah.

On Saturday, 17 October, a group of masked men armed with sticks attacked a European diplomatic delegation that was taking part in the olive harvest near the Christian village of Taybeh. Belgium's consul general in Jerusalem, Anick Van Calster, was among those present and was unhurt, but a French mayor, Bernard Baudoux, was struck and the window of a Belgian official car was smashed. Staff from the French and Polish embassies were also among the targets, and a young Palestinian man was severely injured in a separate assault that day.

Police detain ten people

On Monday, 19 October, Israeli police said they had detained ten people early that day in connection with the violence, including the assault on the foreign journalist and the alleged attack on diplomats in Taybeh. According to the police, the operation aimed to find suspects as well as people who had violated military orders, such as entering areas declared closed military zones. Some of those arrested were detained for breaching closed-zone orders, according to a police statement reported by Haaretz. Police released footage of the raid, and a court later extended the detention of six men to between three and four days. Settler organisations said one search targeted an illegal farm outpost near Ofra and another site at Shiloh, 15 kilometres further north, and police seized several vehicles. Police commissioner Danny Levy said the law in Judea and Samaria applies to everyone regardless of identity or affiliation.

Government and international reaction

Netanyahu's office insisted that the circumstances of the attack on Levine were unclear, and the Guardian reports that he referred to an alleged attack and to unproven allegations that the diplomats had been targeted. Foreign minister Gideon Saar condemned the violence, blamed Israeli rioters for it, and criticised the European consulates for not coordinating the visit with the Israeli army. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration was very troubled and expected Israel to act. US ambassador Mike Huckabee welcomed what he called a very positive development in identifying the attackers, while the State Department condemned criminal violence by any actor in the West Bank and called for those responsible to be prosecuted. Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prévot condemned the attack and urged Israeli authorities to bring those responsible to justice. Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's main electoral rival, also rejected the violence.

Olive harvest and a wider pattern

The Israeli rights group Yesh Din counted more than 269 incidents linked to the olive harvest in the twenty days to 19 October. Its data for 2005 to 2025 show that 94% of Israeli police investigations into settler violence were closed without an indictment. The NGO La Paix maintenant said Palestinian farmers' access to 88.3 square kilometres of land, about 20% of the West Bank's olive groves, was conditional on prior military coordination under orders signed on Wednesday, 7 October. The Palestinian community of Turmus Ayya halted its harvest on Sunday, 18 October, because of settlers approaching the area. Van Calster told VRT NWS that the diplomats' presence was meant to deter attacks.

Our presence is meant to deter the settlers, but we never seek confrontation. Violence has truly reached a new threshold.

Levine said the global focus on her case highlighted what she described as double standards toward Palestinians.

People are dealing with this, undergoing attacks, losing property, losing family members, being injured all across the West Bank and nothing is being done.

Election backdrop

Israelis go to the polls on 27 October, the first election since the Hamas attacks of 2023. Netanyahu is seeking the support of settlers, and Donald Trump publicly backed him on social media. Far-right national security minister Ben Gvir was interrupted by protesters at a conference in Tel Aviv and left the stage escorted by security guards.