US Photojournalist Heidi Levine Assaulted by Jewish Rioters Near Ramallah

American photojournalist Heidi Levine, working for The Washington Post, was violently assaulted by Jewish rioters on Friday near the village of Abu Falah, east of Ramallah in Judea and Samaria. Speaking from the hospital, Levine recounted being thrown to the ground and repeatedly kicked. She stated that without her protective gear, she might not have survived the assault, which she described as lasting for several minutes and involving approximately fifty kicks. During the attack, rioters also attempted to make her stand up, only to push her down again and continue the assault, eventually taking all her equipment.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strongly condemned the incident and announced an investigation into all circumstances. The IDF stated that soldiers and border police were dispatched to the area near Khirbet Abu Falah following reports of a violent clash where a foreign journalist was injured. The military called the acts "serious and unacceptable" against innocent civilians and confirmed that police and forensic investigators would collect testimonies and evidence.

Meanwhile, opposition leader Yaïr Lapid accused the government of encouraging such violence, stating on X that "Jewish terrorism acts are not a failure of the government, they are its policy." He implicated Itamar Ben Gvir and Benjamin Netanyahu's silence in the matter.

This incident follows a TF1 report from two days prior, which highlighted hostility from extremist Jewish youth towards a journalistic team in Judea and Samaria. That report focused on the daily lives of Palestinians near Israeli settlements and included testimonies from residents denouncing violence by settlers.