Photojournalist Heidi Levine beaten by settlers in West Bank

American photojournalist Heidi Levine, who works for The Washington Post, was injured on Friday in an attack by Israeli settlers near the village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah in the West Bank. According to her son Michael Milner, she has four broken vertebrae, and doctors nearly had to amputate a finger that was almost torn off.

“My mother is lying in hospital and can’t get up. What happened has shaken her badly,” Milner told Israel’s public broadcaster Kan. He added that Jeff Bezos, who is reportedly shocked by the incident, wants to speak with her and has promised to do everything he can to secure justice.

What happened in Abu Falah

According to Israeli media, around 80 settlers, many of them masked and some carrying tear gas canisters, began throwing stones and beating Palestinians, the activists accompanying them and Levine herself. The olive harvest is under way, and clashes in the West Bank are common at this time.

“My mother has been taking photographs for more than 40 years, mostly in war zones – Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan, Syria. She has had stones thrown at her and has been hit by a rubber bullet, but there has never been an attack like this. She has never been beaten in a crowd and robbed,” Milner said.

Reaction from the Israeli authorities

Israeli President Isaac Herzog phoned Levine in hospital. “I strongly condemn this shocking act of violence. The behavior of these criminals reflects neither the citizens nor the values of our state,” he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded more cautiously: he said the journalist had “allegedly been attacked” and that “the facts are unclear and under investigation.” Levine’s son reacted with outrage: in his words, the state had a chance to show it could enforce the law, but the case was once again “thrown in the trash.”

Attack on European diplomats

On Saturday, Israeli and Palestinian media reported, radical settlers attacked a delegation of diplomats from several EU countries in the Christian village of Taybeh near Ramallah. The delegation included representatives of Poland, Belgium and France; among the injured was Bernard Baudouin, mayor of the French town of Aulnoy-sous-Bois. Masked settlers surrounded the car and demanded the passengers’ documents. Israeli authorities are investigating both incidents.

The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians and more than half a million Israeli settlers. Under international law, the settlements are illegal. According to the EU, in 2025 the Israeli government approved a record 54 new official settlements, and another 86 unofficial ones appeared in the same year.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz

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