Amid US pressure, Israel arrests suspects after West Bank settler attacks on American journalist, European diplomats

Israeli police arrested 10 Israeli suspects Oct. 19 after international pressure over violent settler attacks in the West Bank seriously injured Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine and targeted European diplomats.

Police said in an X post that officers detained the suspects at several locations in the central West Bank during an operation called “Olive Leaf,” an apparent reference to the recent start of the olive harvest in the region, which has seen a rise in settler attacks.

In their statement, police said they found evidence connecting the suspects to the alleged offenses and seized several vehicles. Authorities said the suspected offenses included involvement in violent incidents, violating a closed military zone order, and illegal construction.

The arrests followed separate attacks on Levine near the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, on Oct. 16 and on European diplomats visiting the area around the Palestinian Christian town of Taybeh on Oct. 17.

Photojournalist undergoes surgery after violent attack

According to the Times of Israel, Levine was injured when some 80 Israeli settlers descended on the olive grove, throwing rocks and beating Palestinians. Many of the attackers were masked, and some carried gas canisters, the outlet reported. 

Levine, who wore a helmet and protective vest marked “PRESS,” said the attackers kicked her for about 10 minutes as she tried to hold onto her cameras and bag, the Times reported. 

She said the attack ended when her Palestinian colleagues intervened, after which medics rushed her in an ambulance to a clinic in Abu Falah and then to a hospital in Ramallah. Doctors later treated her at Rabin Medical Center in Israel.

The veteran journalist suffered a broken rib, multiple broken vertebrae, and cuts across her body, according to her daughter, who spoke with AP News Oct. 17. Levine underwent surgery Oct. 17 on a finger that the attackers nearly severed during the assault. 

The attack in Abu Falah was one of several assaults on Palestinian villages over the weekend, with perpetrators reportedly setting cars and trees ablaze and beating residents. 

On Oct. 17 in Taybeh, settlers reportedly attacked a group of European diplomats, including those from France, Belgium, and Poland. Footage showed attackers throwing stones at a diplomatic vehicle and breaking its window. The European Union called for accountability and measures to prevent further violence following the attack on the delegation. 

The Times reported that the Israel Defense Forces has faced “mounting criticism for troops often standing by while attacks unfold, actively participating or failing to prosecute those responsible.”

Israeli officials respond to reported attacks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in an Oct. 16 statement after the attack that Israel condemned violence against civilians and journalists and that authorities would hold those responsible accountable. It also said the facts surrounding the attack “remain unclear and are under investigation.” 

The office said, “Reports indicate some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronted approximately 40 Israeli youths. Footage shows masked individuals on both sides hurling objects, amid reports of fireworks fired at Jewish youths. Other footage appears to show Levine knocked down and immediately helped to her feet by the same unidentified individual.”

Levine rejected that characterization in an interview from her hospital bed with Israel’s Channel 12, saying it was “such a lie and the biggest insult.” 

Following the separate incident involving European diplomats, Netanyahu’s office said the delegation had entered an area with a history of confrontations without coordinating with Israeli police. It said investigators were working to establish what happened and identify those responsible. 

US leaders call for action

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee condemned the assault on Levine in an Oct. 17 X post, emphasizing her American citizenship and visible identification as a journalist. He called for years-long prison sentences for her attackers, saying she suffered “serious injuries from vicious & cowardly attacks.”

“We have called for a full investigation, arrest, and prosecution to the fullest extent of the law to whoever participated in this,” he said. “Attacking a female photographer is despicable [sic] act of terror carried out by masked cowards. Dishonorable act of senseless violence.”

Huckabee later welcomed the Israeli police’s announcement of the arrests as a “very positive development in finding & punishing those who severely attacked and beat” Levine in an Oct. 19 X post. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Oct. 17 that the Trump administration has urged Israel to take stronger action against settler violence. He said the U.S. “doesn’t want to see a new spark” in the West Bank and described the administration as “very disturbed” by the images of Levine’s attack and “what we’re seeing” in the region.

“We’ve asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff,” Rubio told reporters before his flight to India and Uzbekistan. “The President has been very clear. He’s said this repeatedly. He does not want to see friction or anything — a crisis — going on in the West Bank.”

Trump endorses Netanyahu

Separately, President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu Oct. 18 ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 national election, praising their partnership against Iran. 

In a Truth Social post, Trump called Netanyahu a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and an “even greater Partner for Peace in combating the Islamic Republic of Iran.” He argued that another Israeli leader could leave the U.S. to confront Iran alone. 

“Please let this Letter serve to represent my Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu in his upcoming Race for Re-Election as Prime Minister of Israel,” Trump wrote.

Netanyahu thanked Trump for his support and said the two leaders would “never let Iran’s regime get nuclear weapons.” He also urged Israeli voters to consider Trump’s endorsement. 

According to Axios, most polls show Netanyahu’s coalition falling short of the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority. The outlet described Trump’s endorsement as unprecedented, reporting that no previous U.S. president had publicly and explicitly backed a candidate in an Israeli election.

Gadi Eisenkot, one of Netanyahu’s leading rivals, said Israeli voters would determine the election’s outcome. According to the Times, he said at an event for Tel Aviv University that he respects Trump but said Israel’s citizens “are the only ones who will decide who the prime minister will be.”