Israel Arrests Suspects After West Bank Settler Attacks

Israeli police say they have arrested 10 people in the West Bank following violent incidents over the weekend, including attacks on a US photojournalist and foreign visitors. Police said officers conducted pre-dawn raids at several locations and seized potential evidence. The suspects are being investigated for alleged involvement in violence, violating an order declaring a closed military zone, and illegal construction. The arrests followed calls from the United States, France, Belgium and Poland for Israel to act after their citizens or diplomats were attacked. Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, a US citizen covering a Palestinian olive harvest, was assaulted by masked settlers on Friday, hospitalised and operated on for a finger injury. On Saturday, masked settlers attacked French, Belgian and Polish diplomats and French mayor Bernard Baudoux, 78, who was visiting to show support for Palestinians and help with the harvest. A Belgian diplomatic vehicle was damaged. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the military blamed Israeli rioters for the attack on the diplomats. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the diplomats had entered a sensitive area with a history of confrontations without coordinating with the military, and described the facts surrounding Levine’s attack as unclear. Levine said settlers attacked her, and President Isaac Herzog apologised. Netanyahu faces an October 27 election in which his religious-nationalist coalition is projected to lose its governing majority. Opposition figures said the attacks harmed Israel’s image and accused him of allowing the violence. The article situates the incidents amid rising settler violence during the Palestinian olive harvest. Israeli rights group Yesh Din recorded at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27. The United Nations says attacks—including killings, beatings, vandalism and arson—averaged six a day in the first half of the year. Rights groups also say Israel rarely prosecutes settlers when Palestinians are victims.

An Al Jazeera Data Journalism Unit investigation challenges Israeli accounts of an October 16, 2026 attack on Palestinian olive harvesters and American photojournalist Heidi Levine in Khirbet Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah. By verifying and sequencing more than 20 videos and photographs, consulting local journalists, and mapping locations, the unit reconstructed events that it says show masked settlers gathering, approaching the harvesters, setting olive trees on fire, and assaulting Levine. The investigation places the attack about 455 metres southwest of a settler outpost and reports that Israeli military vehicles passed through shortly before the violence without intervening. Levine, a 63-year-old Washington Post photographer wearing a press vest, suffered a broken rib, four fractured vertebrae, and injuries requiring hand surgery. Footage and witnesses describe Palestinian youths throwing stones after the settlers advanced; they later helped colleagues reach Levine. The report says the army pursued Palestinians after the assault, and that soldiers later fired tear gas at harvesters, shot a local council member, and intercepted an ambulance. Israeli officials offered differing accounts. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the facts remained unclear and cited reports of Arabs and left-wing activists confronting Israeli youths. The military said troops responded to a violent confrontation, used crowd-control measures, and fired warning shots and at a suspect carrying a sharp object, while saying its soldiers did not see the attack on Levine. Al Jazeera argues that video and geographic evidence contradict these accounts by documenting the settlers’ actions and the military’s presence. The attack drew condemnation from US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who called for the assailants to be imprisoned.

Israeli police said they arrested 10 people suspected of involvement in recent attacks on Palestinians, an American photojournalist and European diplomats in the occupied West Bank. The arrests followed a pre-dawn operation conducted with the Shin Bet and came amid mounting criticism of repeated violence by groups of mostly young Israeli settlers. Police said the operation, named Olive Leaf, targeted suspects accused of participating in the attacks and violating an order declaring a closed military zone; items allegedly linking them to offenses and several vehicles were seized. The arrests followed a Friday attack in which Palestinians harvesting olives and Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine were injured by masked Israeli men, according to videos, witnesses and Palestinian authorities. A diplomatic convoy representing France, Belgium and Poland was reportedly assaulted near Taybeh on Saturday. U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee welcomed the arrests and called the attack on Levine an act of terror. Secretary of State Marco Rubio also condemned the assault and said the United States had urged Israel to crack down on such violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office cautioned against reaching conclusions about the reported attack on the diplomats, saying online images did not establish the full sequence of events or individual responsibility. Israel’s military said the convoy had not coordinated with it, but did not deny that settlers attacked it. Further attacks were reported Monday by WAFA, the Palestinian Authority’s official media outlet: two Palestinians were injured in Turmus Ayya and Deir Abu Mash’al amid reported attempts to set homes on fire. Israel’s military also said Israeli civilians had entered Wadi a-Rahim, sprayed graffiti and burned a storage shed; it said it had begun dismantling an illegal settler outpost in the area. The article notes that U.N. figures show settler violence rising since 2022, with attacks intensifying after the Gaza war amid support within parts of Netanyahu’s government for settlement expansion and possible annexation of the West Bank.

Israeli police say they have arrested 10 suspects in connection with settler violence in the occupied West Bank, including two incidents involving foreign visitors. On Friday, masked settlers were filmed assaulting Heidi Levine, a veteran photojournalist for The Washington Post, as she covered a Palestinian olive harvest. Levine suffered broken vertebrae. The following day, settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats and French mayor Bernard Baudoux, who was visiting to support the harvest. The attacks prompted condemnation from the United States, France, Belgium and Poland. Israeli police West Bank commander Major General Moshe Finchi said an arrest operation took place before dawn after what he called severe weekend violence. Israeli media reported that the Shin Bet domestic security service was involved, and police said the investigation was continuing. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the Israeli military blamed Israeli rioters for the attack on the diplomats. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the diplomats had entered a sensitive area with a history of confrontations without prior coordination with the military, and described the facts surrounding Levine’s assault as unclear. The article notes that the attacks occurred ahead of crucial October 27 elections for Netanyahu. The arrests come amid a reported rise in settler violence against Palestinians: Israeli human rights group Yesh Din counted at least 170 attacks since September 27. However, DW correspondent Tania Kraemer said Palestinians, journalists and international observers have little confidence that the arrests will result in charges. Yesh Din’s review of Israeli police investigations from 2005 to 2023 found that only about 3% resulted in full or partial convictions. More than 80% were closed because police could not identify suspects or gather sufficient evidence.