Israel arrests 10 for settler attack on US journalist, diplomats

Shira Rubin and Fadwa Hodali, Bloomberg News on Oct 19, 2026

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Israeli police arrested 10 people in connection with attacks on an American photojournalist and foreign diplomats by West Bank settlers, an incident that’s stoked European and U.S. calls for a crackdown.

Extremist settlers have escalated violence against Palestinians in recent weeks, coinciding with the West Bank olive harvest — an annual flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The uptick, according to human rights groups, indicates a bid to wrest control over occupied land with tacit support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The weekend incidents, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, began Friday with a settler assault on Heidi Levine, a veteran photojournalist with the Washington Post, leaving her with broken ribs, fractured vertebrae and a nearly dislodged finger. A day later, settlers attacked a convoy of European diplomats and a French mayor, Bernard Badoux, who were visiting the Palestinian olive groves.

Those taken into custody on Monday are suspected “of involvement in the reported acts of violence, violating a military commander’s order declaring a closed military zone and illegal construction,” according to a police statement issued in English rather than in Hebrew. Honenu, an Israeli law firm, said it’s representing the suspects but has yet to hear when they might be arraigned or face formal charges.

“Just because they made a few arrests, I’m not sure they will lead to prosecutions, not with this government,” Levine told Bloomberg from the hospital where she has undergone skin graft surgery on one of her fingers.

“I have an American passport so I’m getting more attention that if I was a Palestinian woman, coming from a Palestinian town, where people are terrified,” she said, adding that her equipment was stolen by the assailants.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Monday welcomed the arrests as “a very positive development.” He had earlier demanded a full investigation and called for Levine’s assailants to spend years in prison.

Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said preliminary evidence indicated settlers were responsible for the Saturday attack on diplomats that included visitors from Poland. The French mayor was assaulted “by extremist settlers” in that incident, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said.

Netanyahu, who is standing for a new term in a tightly contested election next week, has condemned West Bank violence but played down its scope. His hard-right coalition government includes pro-settlers such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who deny terms such as terrorism apply.

Israel Katz, the Israeli defense minister, said he has ordered the military to devise a plan for improved West Bank policing. Katz, who in 2024 scrapped a practice of detaining those suspected of settler violence without charges, said it would not be reinstated. Such detentions are still widely used by Israel against Palestinian suspects.

West Bank settler attacks have soared to 7,627 this year from 1,130 in 2022, according to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a monitoring group linked to the Palestinian Authority, which wields limited self-government in the territory. Armed settlers or soldiers have killed 72 Palestinians in such incidents over the four years, it said.

According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, at least 33 civilians and 10 soldiers or police have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank in the same period. Settler leaders report regular Palestinian stoning or firebombing attacks on their communities.