Washington Post photojournalist describes settler beating in West Bank
Heidi Levine, a veteran photojournalist for The Washington Post, has described being beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. She said she would most likely have been killed had she not been wearing body armour and a helmet. The attack took place on Friday, October 16, while she was covering the olive harvest in the Palestinian village of Abu Falah, north of Ramallah. Levine, 64, had just returned from an assignment in Ukraine.
According to The Guardian, Levine suffered four fractured vertebrae, two broken ribs and four puncture wounds. She was later discharged from a hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel. An earlier Guardian report said she had been badly beaten and needed surgery.
Levine was knocked to the ground, struck with sticks and kicked repeatedly, according to The Washington Post. A Reuters video shows her describing an assault by about 50 masked Israeli settlers. Levine has said the men wore tzitzit tassels, and a witness saw nails sticking out of some of the wooden clubs. It is unclear whether her puncture wounds were caused by knives or other weapons.
Levine said the attack on her began only after the Israeli army arrived in Abu Falah. She told the Associated Press she was angry that the military appeared to have failed to stop it. She described the assault as an "attempted lynching."
Witnesses told The Guardian that the beating stopped only when young Palestinian men used slingshots to aim stones at the settlers and pushed them back. That gave American journalist Jasper Nathaniel the chance to reach Levine and help her to safety with other reporters.
Israeli police arrested 10 people after the weekend attacks, Reuters reported on October 19. The arrests covered attacks on Levine and on European diplomats, who The Washington Post reported had been attacked the day after her beating. US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the attack on Levine a "despicable act of terror." An Israeli official described the facts of the attack on her as "unclear," according to Reuters.
Levine has said more than 20 Palestinians have been killed in settler attacks so far in 2026. A Guardian video report from October 16 cited at least 170 attacks by settlers since September 27.
