Key facts
- AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh was beaten by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
- Ashtiyeh was hospitalized with bruises to his head and torso.
- Israeli soldiers were present but did not intervene in the attack.
- The assault occurred while Ashtiyeh was covering settler violence against Palestinian olive farmers.
- The assailants also took Ashtiyeh's camera equipment.
An Agence France-Presse photographer, Jaafar Ashtiyeh, was hospitalized after being severely beaten by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank while documenting settler violence against Palestinian olive farmers. The assault occurred in the presence of approximately a dozen armed Israeli soldiers who reportedly made no attempt to intervene.
Ashtiyeh, 58, suffered bruises to his head and torso and was taken to a hospital in Nablus. His camera equipment was also taken by the assailants. The incident took place near the village of Aqraba as Ashtiyeh and another AFP photographer, John Wessels, were observing an Israeli soldier detaining a man while Palestinians harvested olives.
Wessels reported that a man on a quad bike first opened fire, hitting a Palestinian in the foot, before at least six others rushed towards the journalists. Wessels himself was threatened at gunpoint. The attack on Ashtiyeh happened as he tried to enter a clearly marked press vehicle.
Phil Chetwynd, AFP's global news director, strongly condemned the attack, calling it an attempt to intimidate the press and obstruct reporting. The Foreign Press Association also expressed deep alarm and called for a full investigation into why the soldiers present did not intervene.
This incident occurs amid a particularly violent harvest season in the West Bank, with Israeli settlers increasingly targeting Palestinian farmers and their olive groves. Media rights groups note a rise in attacks against journalists, with Israeli authorities detaining 19 journalists in the West Bank in the three years since October 7, 2023.