Palestinians and US journalist attacked in West Bank: What we know

On Friday, Israeli settlers violently attacked Palestinians harvesting olives and a female photographer working for The Washington Post in the occupied West Bank, beating villagers and burning olive groves.

The attack was among several targeting Palestinians trying to harvest olives, with other assaults and arson also reported in nearby communities.

These incidents are only the latest in weeks of escalating organized attacks (pogroms) against local communities in the West Bank by Israelis from illegal settlements, who are largely protected – or at least not hindered – by Israeli forces.

Veteran journalist Heidi Levine, 64, was taken to hospital after Friday's attack in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah. A Palestinian man was also shot in the thigh by Israeli soldiers, according to a witness who spoke to Al Jazeera and the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Here is what we know.

What happened during the attack?

Dozens of masked settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, throwing stones, using slingshots and burning trees.

Levine, an American freelance photographer working for The Washington Post, fell to the ground during the attack before being assaulted, according to witnesses. "We looked and saw a journalist … lying on the ground with people surrounding her, beating her, hitting her with sticks, robbing her, pulling her up, hitting her again and kicking her," Jasper Nathaniel, an independent journalist who witnessed the attack, told Al Jazeera.

Levine was wearing a protective vest marked "PRESS" on both the front and back. Her camera and phone were taken during the attack, according to The Washington Post.

Nathaniel said he and others managed to reach her when the settlers briefly pulled back, but she struggled to stand. "She was in a very, very bad way. She really could not get up off the ground," he said.

As they helped her toward medics, the settlers charged again, throwing more stones, he added. Levine was eventually taken to a hospital in Ramallah.

Nathaniel said Israeli soldiers arrived after the settlers' attack and opened fire, using tear gas against Palestinians, shooting one man in the leg. "They did nothing to stop the settlers, and they stormed into the town and started shooting and firing tear gas, and they shot a Palestinian man in the leg," he said.

"They pointed their guns at the medics who were helping him, pushed journalists, including me," Nathaniel said, adding that the man was eventually taken away by ambulance.

Wafa also reported that Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at Palestinians during the attack. After the soldiers left, Palestinians returned to harvesting olives, Nathaniel added.

Where else have olive pickers been attacked?

Also on Friday, violence erupted in other parts of the occupied West Bank. In Burqa, east of Ramallah, four Palestinians were reported wounded in a settler attack targeting olive pickers. In nearby Turmus Aya, settlers attacked farmers and burned vehicles and olive trees. A civil defense volunteer was also injured, according to Wafa.

These attacks followed the death of Ali Hassan Yasser al-Bazzari, 44, in an attack targeting Palestinians picking olives near Burqa, northwest of Nablus, on October 7. Witnesses said settlers and Israeli soldiers attacked the harvesters.

Journalists documenting the violence were also targeted. On October 6, armed settlers beat AFP's Palestinian photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh, 58, with a rifle butt near Aqraba, south of Nablus. He was taken to hospital with wounds to his head and body, according to witnesses, relatives and colleagues.

How widespread are the attacks?

Organized attacks by Israeli settlers have been ongoing for weeks and have intensified as the seasonal Palestinian olive harvest began.

The Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has documented at least 170 attacks since September 27, the period marking the start of the annual olive harvest, Reuters reported.

The violence threatens Palestinian livelihoods and their access to land. Farmers endure attacks, destruction of trees and theft of crops, while settlers have also begun stealing olives from Palestinian-owned groves.

Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum reported that the intimidation extends beyond farmland to Palestinian homes and vehicles, pressuring communities to leave.

"People there are still living under the threat of being attacked, not only on their agricultural land but also on their property," he said.

"Vehicles and homes have been repeatedly targeted by settler attacks, seemingly used by the Israeli military to create a deterrence environment with Palestinians expected to leave these areas so they can later turn them into Israeli settlements."