Masked settlers beat Washington Post photographer at West Bank olive harvest

Her injuries: Levine was treated in Ramallah and then at Beilinson Hospital in Israel for cuts, a broken rib and four broken vertebrae, and will need surgery on one hand, The Post reported. Her cameras, phone and passport were taken. "They just kept kicking me and kicking me," she told reporters from her hospital bed, adding that her flak jacket and helmet likely saved her. Post executive editor Matt Murray called it an "unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job" and said the paper had written to Israel's government seeking a full investigation.

Wider violence: Earlier Friday, settlers burned three cars in nearby Turmus Ayya after attacking farmers there, Reuters reported. Local officials and the Palestine Red Crescent reported attacks in at least eight villages, and the Red Crescent said its medics treated 14 wounded people, according to AP. One Palestinian man in Abu Falah was wounded by gunfire, a journalist at the scene told The Post.

Two accounts: Journalists who were there, including Israeli reporter Oren Ziv, said troops arrived but fired tear gas at Palestinians and did not stop the masked men. The Israel Defense Forces said soldiers were dispersing a large, violent crowd and did not see the assault on Levine, and that it will act if troops behaved improperly. Netanyahu's office said the facts "remain unclear and are under investigation" and "those responsible will be held accountable," while citing a competing account that hundreds of "Arabs and far-left activists" confronted about 40 Israeli youths. The Binyamin Regional Council, which represents nearby settlements, blamed the Palestinian Authority for sending "hundreds of anarchists." Murray replied on X that Levine "was clearly marked as Press. She was clearly beaten."

Washington's response: The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said it condemns "criminal violence by any party in the West Bank" and called for "investigations, arrests and convictions of those responsible." The State Department said it offered consular help to The Post but did not name a responsible party. Some members of Congress, including Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), condemned the attack.

What remains unknown: who the attackers were and whether any will be arrested; what the IDF's review finds about the soldiers at the scene; and whether Levine's stolen equipment is recovered. What would change the story: arrests or charges, a published IDF finding, or new U.S. steps such as the sanctions some allies, including Britain, have weighed over settler violence.

Accounts of how the clash began differ: journalists at the scene and video describe a coordinated settler attack, while Netanyahu's office cites a competing account and the local settlers' council blames Palestinian and activist provocateurs. Levine works for The Washington Post, one of the outlets cited here. Injury counts come from Palestinian medics and the Palestine Red Crescent as reported by AP and Reuters, and could not be independently verified. No arrests had been reported in the sources reviewed. Photos are file images, not from Friday's events.