An Israeli settler hurls a stone toward Palestinians amid clashes during the olive harvest in Abu Falah, in the occupied West Bank, on Friday. He is also shown setting olive trees on fire (Ammar Awad/Reuters)
Heidi Levine had been covering Palestinians’ annual harvest of olives, which has been repeatedly disrupted by Israeli settlers. Settlers beat her and stole her passport, telephone, wallet and equipment, according to witnesses. She was taken to the hospital in the West Bank with broken vertebrae, and is now in moderate condition.
US Ambassador Mike Huckabee on Saturday, October 17, demanded that Israel prosecute and jail the assailants in a West Bank settler attack against a Washington Post journalist, Heidi Levine.
Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine in a Ramallah hospital on Friday after she was beaten by Israeli settlers. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)
“Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards,” Huckabee wrote on X, taking a far stronger tone than an earlier statement from Washington.
Huckabee, a staunch ally of Israel who has nonetheless sharply criticised settler attacks against Americans, did not identify the culprits as settlers, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to sow doubt as to their identity.
“Details of who under investigation, but those who attacked unarmed reporter should spend (years) in prison,” Huckabee continued. “We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to whoever participated in this.”
Levine, a veteran photographer, was taken to hospital with broken vertebrae. She was listed on Saturday as being in moderate condition. She had been covering Palestinians’ annual harvest of olives, which has been repeatedly disrupted by Israeli settlers. Settlers beat her and stole her passport, telephone, wallet and equipment, according to witnesses.
Netanyahu, who wants to shore up his pro-settlement right-wing base ahead of close-fought October 27 elections, on Friday insisted that Palestinians or “far-left” activists may have been responsible.
The US State Department on Friday took a cautious tone on Levine’s beating, saying It condemns “criminal violence by any party.”
“We’re very disturbed by those images and what we’re seeing,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday. “We’ve asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff.”
The US State Department, Rubio said, has inquired about the event that included Levine’s attack. Rubio, who spoke to reporters before boarding a flight to Uzbekistan, said he expects to hear back from the US Embassy in Jerusalem by Sunday.
Israeli settlers in the West Bank have been involved in at least 170 attacks on Palestinians since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest, according to Yesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group.
Le Monde with AFP
