Israeli police have detained 10 people in a rare raid against settlers following a weekend of extreme violence in the occupied West Bank. This comes after US photojournalist Heidi Levine was assaulted, which she described as an "attempted lynching" while covering the olive harvest in a Palestinian village on Friday.
Assault on Journalists and Diplomats
Levine was knocked down, kicked, and beaten by a group of masked Israeli men, resulting in severe injuries including broken vertebrae and a ripped finger that required surgery. In an interview with the BBC from her hospital bed on Monday, she stated:
“"I was practically, basically lynched by a gang of Jewish settlers in the area of Ramallah."
The day after Levine's assault, Israeli militants attacked a group of European diplomats and Palestinians harvesting olives outside the town of Taybeh. This included an assault on a visiting French mayor, smashing the window of an official car, and causing severe injuries to a young Palestinian man.
Political Reactions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu questioned the accounts of the violence, referring to Levine's attack as an "alleged attack" and dismissing the diplomats' claims as "unproven allegations." His statements drew a furious international reaction, including from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, and the editor of the Washington Post, Matt Murray.
