This is yet another episode of violence under Israeli occupation, West Bank: Israeli settlers attacked a group of Palestinians, activists and journalists participating in the harvest olives near a settler outpost, in the area of the village of Beita, south of Nablus, as reported by witnesses quoted by the Reuters agency.
According to these accounts, about thirty villagers and activists, as well as about ten journalists, had gathered to support Palestinian farmers and document the olive harvest in the West Bank, when dozens of men descended from a guard post on a nearby hill and launched an attack, wielding sticks, globes and large stones.
Two Reuters employees were among the injured: photojournalist Raneen Sawafta and her accompanying security adviser, Grant Bowden. The attackers hit her repeatedly, continuing to stone her while she was already on the ground, according to Israeli activist Jonathan Pollack, an eyewitness, who said the settlers shouted in Hebrew: “Get out of here.”
Watch the moment when Reuters journalist Ranain Sawafta was injured by Israeli settlers during their attack on agricultural lands in Beita town in Nablus, the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/16qJR0pajd
— Al-Jarmaq News (@Aljarmaqnetnews) November 8, 2025
The photographer was wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest marked ‘Press’. Her helmet has a large dent from the attack. Her colleague was injured trying to protect her and their camera equipment was destroyed. Both were taken to a hospital in Nablus. Many more people were injured.
Area under pressure and attack increase
The area south of Nablus has long been a hotbed of settler violence, a phenomenon that has intensified in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war two years ago. Attacks increase especially in autumn, the olive harvest season, when Israeli and international activists often accompany Palestinian villagers to help them reach their fields and record incidents of violence.
Around the Palestinian villages there are many settler outposts – sometimes just a few caravans – which do not have official approval from the Israeli authorities. The Palestinians and most countries consider them illegal under international law, which Israel disputes.
The Israeli army said it had sent troops to the area following “information about a confrontation” and said in a statement that it “condemns any act of violence”, adding that police would look into the incident. But witnesses cited by Reuters assure that they did not see soldiers at the scene at the time of the attack. Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
264 settler attacks in one month
According to United Nations figures, Israeli settlers carried out at least 264 attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank in October alone, one of the highest levels since the UN began recording such incidents in 2006.
Israeli human rights groups have complained for years that these attacks are rarely seriously investigated by authorities and that perpetrators are rarely brought to justice, contributing to a climate of impunity while tensions remain high in both the West Bank and Gaza.