Israel Arrests 10 After Settler Attacks on Journalist, European Diplomats
The arrests follow U.S. and European demands for action after masked settlers assaulted Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine and attacked a diplomatic convoy in separate West Bank incidents.
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Israeli police detained 10 suspects before dawn on Monday in an investigation covering separate settler attacks on a Washington Post photojournalist and European diplomats in the occupied West Bank.
The operation followed demands from Washington, France, Belgium, and Poland to act against those responsible. Prosecutions of Israeli settlers remain rare.
Police said those detained faced questioning over suspected violence, breaches of a military closure order and unauthorized construction.
They did not name the suspects or specify how many were being questioned over each attack. Army Radio described them as Israeli citizens.
Military personnel and the Shin Bet domestic security agency joined police in the raids.
Separate Attacks During Olive Harvest
Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine, a U.S. citizen, was assaulted on Friday while reporting on Palestinians harvesting olives. She required hospital treatment and surgery on a finger.
Dozens of masked settlers descended on the harvest, including some carrying weapons. Some used slingshots to throw stones.
Levine said her attackers wore tzitzit, the ritual tassels worn by some observant Jewish men.
Police footage from Monday’s operation appeared to show two slingshots recovered from a property and at least one detainee wearing the tassels. His face was not visible.
A separate attack on Saturday targeted French, Belgian and Polish diplomats traveling with a French mayor elsewhere in the West Bank. Masked settlers damaged a Belgian diplomatic vehicle.
U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee welcomed the arrests in a post on X, calling them “a very positive development in finding & punishing those who severely attacked and beat” Levine.
Netanyahu Questions Circumstances
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and the military attributed the assault on the diplomats to Israeli rioters. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered a more qualified response.
Netanyahu said the diplomats had entered a “sensitive area with a history of confrontations” without coordinating their movements with the military.
He also described the circumstances of the attack on Levine as unclear.
His religious-nationalist coalition is projected to lose its parliamentary majority in the October 27 election.
President Isaac Herzog apologized to Levine and said the people who assaulted her did not represent Israel’s values.
Police commissioner Daniel Levy said enforcement applied to everyone, “regardless of identity or affiliation.”
The arrests come amid a rise in attacks against Palestinians. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din has recorded at least 170 settler attacks since September 27.
Journalists, Israeli activists and foreign observers have also faced violence.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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