A Palestinian journalist who works for Reuters was beaten on Saturday by Jewish settlers who attacked an olive harvest south of the city of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Settlers from an illegal outpost nearby descended on a group of about 40 people, including Palestinian villagers attempting to harvest olives, activists, and journalists. Jonathan Pollak, an Israeli activist, witnessed the attack and the beating of Reuters photographer Raneen Sawafta, who was hospitalized after the incident.
“[They] beat her up without mercy, continuing to stone her while she was on the ground and then continuing to attack everyone who was coming to her help,” Pollak said.
Grant Bowden, a security adviser for Reuters, was with Sawafta and was also beaten while he tried to protect her. Both Sawafta and Bowden were wearing helmets and jackets clearly marked “press.” Several other people were injured in the attack, which was caught on video.
Jewish settlers have been on a rampage across the Israeli-occupied territory during this year, and attacks have spiked even more since the olive harvesting season began last month. The UN recorded a total of 266 settler attacks in October, the highest in a single month since it began recording in 2006, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
“Since 2006, OCHA has documented over 9,600 such attacks. About 1,500 of them took place just this year, roughly 15% of the total,” OCHA said on Friday.
While the Trump administration has ruled out the idea of Israel annexing the West Bank, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has expressed support for the expansion of settlements, emboldening settlers on the ground.
