Activists accuse Israeli settlers of assault in occupied West Bank

Key Points:

• Russian activist Adele Shoko reported that Israeli settlers attacked her and two colleagues, US journalist Jasper Nathaniel and Israeli-Russian activist Andrey X, in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair in the occupied West Bank, resulting in beatings, theft, and arrests.
• Nathaniel was pepper-sprayed, beaten, and arrested by Israeli forces, while Andrey X suffered multiple concussions, was severely beaten in front of police, denied hospital treatment, and remains detained without medical care.
• Video footage shared by Shoko showed armed men assaulting Nathaniel and Andrey X, and Israeli authorities removing Nathaniel while he protested the violence against him.
• The attack follows a recent incident on October 16 in Abu Falah, where masked Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian farmers, destroyed olive trees, and were met with live ammunition and tear gas from Israeli soldiers.
• Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was also beaten, robbed, and hospitalized during the Abu Falah attack despite wearing a press vest, prompting condemnation from her employer and calls from US lawmakers for investigations and an end to settler violence.