Escalating Violence: West Bank Settler Attacks Target Foreign Officials, Journalists, and Palestinians Amid Olive Harvest

European diplomats and officials faced attacks on Saturday amidst a recent surge in settler pogroms across the occupied West Bank, coinciding with the olive harvest season. These settler pogroms have intensified just weeks before Israel's general election on October 27. The European Union (EU) on Sunday condemned the settler attacks on European diplomats and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. The previous day, a seasoned American journalist working for the Washington Post was also severely assaulted. This pattern of Israeli settlers assaulting foreign officials or prominent Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is not new. Below is a timeline of some recent and past attacks:

October 17, 2026

Israeli settlers assaulted European diplomats, including a French mayor, near the Palestinian village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank. The delegation was visiting Palestinian olive harvesters when the Israeli attackers confronted them. In Saturday's incident, settlers targeted Belgium’s consul general, French and Polish diplomats, and Catholic representatives, according to Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot. Prevot stated, “A French mayor was assaulted and a Belgian vehicle damaged,” linking the incident to Israel’s “illegal settlement policy” and vowing to pursue further EU sanctions. Bernard Baudoux, the French mayor who was assaulted, informed the AFP news agency that the attack suggests “a tolerance on the part of the Israeli government” towards settler violence. Video shared by activist Amit Orfali shows Baudoux leaning against a vehicle while seated on the ground. Other clips depict masked young men insistently tapping on a driver’s side window and demanding identification, while other masked men carrying sticks advanced in the distance. Orfali reported that the masked men “threatened to kill us”. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot urged Israel to apprehend the “extremist settlers” who “violently assaulted” Baudoux and bring them to justice. Barrot posted on X, “They must urgently halt this criminal violence and guarantee the safety of civilian populations, as they are compelled to do under international law.” In contrast, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office appeared to question the reports of the attack on the Europeans, stating on X that they were “alleged” and required “compelling evidence,” despite acknowledging the existence of published footage. The EU stated on Sunday, “We take positive note of statements by several Israeli representatives who condemned the attacks. But we expect full accountability as well as effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians, including during the ongoing olive harvest season, as well as against journalists.”

October 16, 2026

Palestinian farmers harvesting olives and veteran American journalist Heidi Levine, 64, who freelances for the Washington Post, were brutally attacked by settlers. Witnesses reported that Levine fell to the ground during the assault before being attacked again. Independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who witnessed the attack, told Al Jazeera, “We looked and saw that there was a journalist … on the ground with people surrounding her, beating her, clubbing her, robbing her, pulling her up, beating her again and kicking her.” Levine later told reporters that her attackers “just kept kicking me and kicking me, like probably 50 times.” Levine was wearing a protective vest marked “PRESS.” The Washington Post reported that her cameras and phone were taken during the assault. Nathaniel stated that he and others managed to reach Levine when the settlers briefly retreated, but she had difficulty standing. “She was in very, very bad shape. She couldn’t really get up off the ground,” he said. As they assisted Levine towards paramedics, settlers charged again, throwing more stones. The journalist was eventually transported to a hospital in Ramallah. Nathaniel added that Israeli soldiers arrived after the settler assault and opened fire, using tear gas against Palestinians and shooting a man in the leg. “They do nothing to stop the settlers, and they speed into town and start firing their guns and tear-gassing, and they shoot a Palestinian man in the leg,” he said. Nathaniel also reported, “They’re pointing their guns at the paramedics who are helping him, shoving journalists, including myself.” The injured man was eventually taken away by ambulance. Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, reported that Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinians during the attack. After the soldiers departed, Palestinians resumed their olive harvesting. Netanyahu’s office stated that the facts surrounding the settler attack “remain unclear,” offering a conditional condemnation. A post on the prime minister’s official X account said, “Serious questions remain,” calling for an investigation to “establish the facts, including who initiated the violence.”

October 6, 2026

Israeli settlers beat Palestinian AFP news agency photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh, 58, with rifle butts near Aqraba, south of Nablus. Witnesses, his family, and fellow journalists cited by AFP reported that he suffered bruises to his head and torso and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. AFP photographer John Wessels was with Ashtiyeh during the incident. The news agency reported that a quadbike approached the journalists, and a man opened live fire. AFP reported, “At least six other people then rushed towards the AFP journalists, firing guns. ‘As Ashtiyeh attempted to enter a car, which was clearly marked ‘Press’, two men jumped on him and beat him repeatedly with the butts of their rifles. ‘I could hear his screams,’ said Wessels, who was also threatened at gunpoint.” Ashtiyeh is now conscious in a Nablus hospital, but his camera equipment was taken by the assailants, according to Wessels. The Israeli military had not yet responded to the AFP news agency.

July 11, 2026

United States Congressional Representative Ro Khanna stated that he and his tour group were detained by rifle-wielding Israeli settlers during a trip to Palestine. Khanna accused the Israeli army of supporting the settlers in a post on X. Khanna wrote, “When the [Israeli army] arrived, they sided with the settlers and continued our detention.” Khanna told Reuters that “hoodlums … with machine guns” had detained his group the previous day. He added that the settlers were armed with US-made assault rifles. In an interview with DRM News, Khanna described his experience in the occupied West Bank and Israel as the “first time” he had “really been acutely aware of being brown.” He further stated, “I saw the arrogance in the eyes of those settlers. Twenty-one and 22-year-olds with guns, laughing that they had detained us. The arrogance of those young [Israeli army] soldiers that my tax dollars are funding. Having no respect for the fact that they were detaining Americans.” The Israeli military disputed Khanna’s account, claiming it “dispersed” civilians who were blocking the road. Israeli officials have ruled out apologizing to Khanna or holding the settlers accountable. Three months later, on Saturday, October 17, Khanna called Netanyahu a “liar” after his office released a statement on X on October 16, questioning “who initiated the violence” and other details of the attack on Washington Post journalist Heidi Levine. Khanna wrote, “Netanyahu called me a liar when settlers detained me, along with a NYT photographer, in Zanuta this past July. Netanyahu, you are the liar with the blood of Palestinian children on your hands.”

November 2025

One Canadian and three Italian activists were injured by illegal Israeli settlers in the Ein ad-Duyuk village in the Jericho governorate in the central West Bank, local sources told the Anadolu news agency. Anadolu reported that settlers had stormed a Bedouin community where the activists were staying and then assaulted them. Three activists sustained moderate injuries, while one was critically wounded. Their passports, phones, and belongings were also confiscated.

July 2025

Palestinian activist and English teacher Awdah Hathaleen, who contributed to the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was shot and killed on July 28, 2025, in the occupied West Bank village of Umm al-Khair in the Masafer Yatta region. Hathaleen, 31, fell to the ground as people rushed to help him. An ambulance from the nearby illegal settlement of Carmel took him away. Footage published by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem appears to show the suspect, Yinon Levi, opening fire on Hathaleen during a confrontation. Despite visual evidence and prior sanctions imposed on Levi by the EU and the United States for past attacks on Palestinians, Israeli authorities released him to house arrest. US President Donald Trump removed penalties against Levi and other settlers accused of extremist violence after taking office in January 2025.

July 2024

Israeli settlers attacked a group of foreign volunteers assisting Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank. David Hummel, an American-German in the group, told AFP that eight mainly American volunteers were working in an olive grove near the Palestinian village of Qusra when settlers attacked them. Hummel recounted, “They started attacking and beating us all with sticks and metal pipes, and they were throwing rocks as well at us. ‘I was attacked on my legs, on my arms and here on my jaw as well and it was … very violent.” The Israeli army condemned the violence, stating its troops were deployed to the scene and fired warning shots into the air, causing the Israeli settlers to flee.