How the Abu Falah attack unfolded

The Israeli settler attack West Bank villagers experienced in Abu Falah came during the annual olive harvest. According to Reuters witnesses, about 80 settlers, some carrying gas canisters, descended from a hill onto a terraced olive grove where Palestinians had gathered to pick fruit.

The settlers burned olive trees and threw rocks, some using slings to launch them at the villagers. The Palestinians moved downhill and threw stones back in self-defense, the witnesses said.

A farmer and an army response

Moutaz Abdelhadi, a 42-year-old farmer who watched the assault, saw it as an attempt to drive people from the area.

At least two Israeli military jeeps arrived partway through, but the attack went on. Soldiers fired tear gas toward Palestinians, live gunfire was heard, and a Reuters photographer saw at least one armed settler fire a gun.

The military said in a statement that soldiers and border police fired what it described as warning shots after deploying, and at one point fired toward a person troops believed posed a threat. It added: "Attempts to incite friction between populations undermine security in the area" and "Attacks and violence against innocent civilians are grave and unacceptable."

Heidi Levine's account and the Washington Post reaction

Palestinian medics said two people were injured and taken to hospitals in the Ramallah area. Among them was Heidi Levine, a Washington Post photojournalist whose condition was reported as stable.

Video of the assault showed Levine lying on a dirt path with her hands over her face as at least three settlers surrounded her. She described the experience from her hospital bed.

Levine said the attack ended when her Palestinian colleagues intervened. Medics took her first to a clinic in Abu Falah and then to a hospital in Ramallah, and she had bandages on her left hand.

• •Matt Murray, the Washington Post's executive editor, said in a statement that Levine was attacked by Israeli settlers while reporting in the West Bank.
• •He said she wore visible markings identifying her as a journalist.
• •Murray said the Post is "outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job" and urged a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities.

Broader settler violence and a second attack

The Abu Falah assault fits a wider pattern. Yesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group, has recorded at least 170 settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest.

Settlers have been emboldened by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has overseen rapid settlement expansion. Netanyahu has criticized the violence but taken few steps to crack down on it.

• •The West Bank is home to some 500,000 settlers and at least 3 million Palestinians.
• •UN bodies and most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law, which Israel rejects.
• •A similar attack happened Friday morning near Turmus Ayya village, where settlers attacked a group of farmers harvesting olives and burned three cars.

Salah Abu Niswa, a witness to the Turmus Ayya attack, said the settlers "snuck up like thieves, they caught someone by himself and began to beat him." The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Turmus Ayya attack, while the Washington Post has pressed for an investigation with follow-through from authorities.