Palestinian olive farmers in the central occupied West Bank. Levine, a veteran photographer, was working near the Palestinian villages of Abu Falah and Turmus Ayya when, she said, more than 50 masked settlers with sticks suddenly jumped her. Speaking from hospital in Ramallah, she said she kept her face to the ground wearing her helmet and flak jacket while they kept kicking her.

AFP photos showed her on a gurney with injuries to her leg and hand. She was later transferred to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, where doctors found four broken vertebrae requiring surgery. The Post said she wore a flak jacket clearly marked "Press." Executive editor Matt Murray condemned the unwarranted attack and urged a thorough investigation. The Foreign Press Association said settlers stole Levine's passport, phone, wallet and equipment. It called this the latest in a long line of settler attacks on journalists and civilians. The attack came 10 days after settlers beat AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh during the olive harvest, also hospitalizing him. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, days before elections in which he seeks settler support, said Levine was "allegedly assaulted" and circumstances were unclear and under investigation. It described some 200 Arabs and far-left activists confronting about 40 Israeli youths, with both sides throwing objects, and said those responsible will be held accountable.

His main rival Gadi Eisenkot called the attack unacceptable and said a handful of rioters stain an entire nation. A US State Department official condemned criminal violence in the West Bank, called for legal accountability, and offered consular assistance to the Post. The Israeli military said troops were deployed after a violent confrontation, a female journalist was injured, and circumstances would be examined. Police opened an investigation. Palestinian farmer Mukhlis Zuhdi said settlers came down while they picked olives, hitting and stoning them, beating even a foreign journalist with no mercy. Reporters Without Borders condemned the brazen violence and impunity, accusing extremist settlers of often operating under army protection. Violence has flared in recent months, with near-daily settler attacks on Palestinians. About 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, occupied since 1967, alongside over 500,000 settlers in settlements illegal under international law, excluding East Jerusalem. (Bssnews)