US photojournalist Heidi Levine hurt as settlers hit olive harvest at Abu Falah

An American photojournalist working for The Washington Post, Heidi Levine, was hurt on Friday, October 16, 2026, when Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians picking olives outside Abu Falah, a Palestinian village close to Ramallah in the West Bank. The Times of Israel reported that, according to witnesses, some 80 settlers, many masked and some carrying gas canisters, came down a hill to a terraced grove where villagers had gathered, and that some used slings to hurl rocks before the villagers threw rocks back.

Speaking from hospital, Levine told Ynet that she had been kicked again and again, around 50 times, by about 50 masked men she called Jewish terrorists and monsters. Ynet also cited reports that the attackers stoned harvesters and set olive trees on fire. Palestinians were injured in several locations that morning: Haaretz reported, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent and local media, that at least six Palestinians were wounded across several villages.

What the footage and witnesses describe

Video posted to X by international activists who were accompanying the harvesters appears to show Levine on the ground while masked people strike her with sticks and then run off, according to The Times of Israel, which described her as reportedly in her 60s. The same footage shows stones being thrown by both sides, with gunfire audible from a source that could not be identified. Afterwards she can be heard telling people who reach her: "I'm not okay. They took all my stuff."

According to Palestinian media cited by The Times of Israel, a woman aged 63 and a man aged 40 received care from the Red Crescent for injuries sustained in beatings. Its liveblog separately noted reports of a 70-year-old Palestinian injured in a settler attack during the harvest. An Associated Press photograph shows soldiers moving toward a wounded Palestinian on a roadway; its caption says the troops had shot him. Barak Ravid of Axios wrote on X that one Palestinian was shot by the army, that cars were set on fire elsewhere, and that the army allowed the settler attack and used tear gas on Palestinians.

The settler council's account

The Binyamin Regional Council, the local municipal body for Israeli settlements in this part of the central West Bank, gave a sharply different version. The Times of Israel reported that the council said "hundreds of terrorists and anarchists" threw stones and fired fireworks straight at Israelis, calling the event a "planned provocation" staged so that journalists could film how the Israelis reacted. In a statement circulated in Hebrew, the council said the Palestinian Authority, the body that administers parts of the West Bank from Ramallah, led the confrontation.

The Hebrew-language Telegram channel Abu Ali Express posted Palestinian video that it said was filmed from the side where journalists and Palestinians stood, and said it showed Palestinians using slingshots and throwing stones with journalists among them. The channel described the clashes as taking place between Abu Falah and the Gush Shilo settlements, a cluster of communities near the settlement of Shilo.

What the army and police said

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said soldiers and Border Police, a paramilitary branch of the Israel Police that operates in the West Bank, were sent to ground next to Khirbet Abu Falah once a violent confrontation was reported. In its statement, the army said foreign media were present, that a female journalist was hurt, that forces used riot dispersal means, and that the incident would be examined. The published text then refers to soldiers opening fire at another location, but the portion available to us is cut off. The Times of Israel reported that Border Police had dispersed the clashes.

Israel Police said in a statement relayed by N12 that a foreign media worker was taken to hospital in light condition, that police and the army view violence against journalists doing their work as serious, and that they would investigate and pursue those involved.

Why the olive harvest matters

The autumn olive harvest is a central event in Palestinian farming life, and groves near settlements are frequent sites of friction. International activists often accompany harvesters, which is why foreign journalists and activists with cameras were at Abu Falah on Friday.

What the reports do not say

The reports do not establish how many people took part on either side: Levine spoke of about 50 masked men, witnesses cited by The Times of Israel put the settlers at some 80, and the settler council described hundreds of Palestinians and activists. No report names any suspect or says whether anyone was arrested. The circumstances of the shooting of a Palestinian man, and his condition, are not given, and the IDF statement on firing at a second location is incomplete in the material available. The Jerusalem Post published an image caption naming the photographer as Nadia Levine, while all other reports call her Heidi Levine. The extent of her injuries beyond the police description of light condition has not been reported.