# Settlers attack olive farmers and Washington Post photographer

> Israeli settlers coordinated attacks across the West Bank to disrupt the annual olive harvest, injuring Palestinians and a journalist.
- Title: Settlers attack olive farmers and Washington Post photographer
- Summary: Israeli settlers coordinated attacks across the West Bank to disrupt the annual olive harvest, injuring Palestinians and a journalist. Israeli settlers…
- Keywords: breaking, west bank, israeli settlers, palestinian olive harvest, heidi levine, washington post, settler violence, israel, palestine, news, world, Settlers
- Source: the Guardian — https://theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/16/israeli-settlers-attack-olive-farmers-west-bank-washington-post-journalist-heidi-levine
- Published: 2026-10-16T14:06:59+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: breaking, west bank, israeli settlers, palestinian olive harvest, heidi levine, washington post, settler violence, israel, palestine, news, world
## Coordinated attacks on harvest
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians across the occupied West Bank on Friday in a coordinated movement to disrupt the annual olive harvest, burning cars and trees and injuring multiple people.
## At least six injured in Abu Falah
Masked settlers wielding clubs and other weapons attacked people attempting to harvest olives in towns across the West Bank.
## Eighty settlers with firearms
At least eighty settlers, some carrying firearms or clubs, gathered in Abu Falah using slingshots to hurl rocks at farmers in view of Israeli military vehicles.
## Photographer beaten for ten minutes
Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine was beaten by settlers in an attack lasting more than ten minutes. Settlers stole her passport, phone, wallet and equipment. She was wearing visible markings identifying her as a journalist.

> I was attacked, pushed to the ground. Luckily, I had my flak jacket and helmet, otherwise I probably wouldn't even be here, because they just kept kicking and kicking me.
## Surge in settler violence this month
Settlers have carried out at least one hundred seventy attacks since twenty-seventh September, around the start of the annual olive harvest, according to Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group.
## New restrictions on harvest areas
Israel imposed new rules this year barring Palestinians from harvesting trees in Area C, under Israeli military control.
## Military gave settlers more access
The Israeli military decreased the amount of land Israeli citizens were prohibited from entering from about one thousand seventy hectares in twenty twenty-five to six hundred eighty hectares in twenty twenty-six, according to Peace Now…
## Settlers rarely face consequences
Settlers rarely face accountability for their violence, even when well documented.Rights groups say settlers enjoy protection from the Israeli military, which intervenes only if Palestinians try to defend themselves.Thousands of trees have been damaged.
## Olives stolen on unprecedented scale
Videos from B'tselem showed hundreds of bags of olives stolen by Israeli settlers from Palestinians and taken to Israeli olive presses.

> never seen before in my 22-year history of working on this issue
## Key takeaway

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives across the West Bank on Friday, injuring at least six people including Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, as part of coordinated disruption of the annual harvest.