An AFP photographer was injured in an attack by Israeli settlers on Friday while covering the olive harvest in a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank.
“In my 30-year career, this is the first time I have faced violence of this kind,” said Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a Palestinian photographer based in the city of Nablus.
“If I hadn’t managed to escape, they would have killed me,” he added.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and Israeli settlements there are expanding, and violence soaring.
Ashtiyeh said he had been covering the olive harvest in the village of Beita, particularly looking at the work of Israeli and foreign peace activists who had come to support residents in the face of repeated settler attacks during the harvest season.
Shortly after midday (0900 GMT), two groups of Israeli settlers armed with sticks and stones — numbering around 70 people in total — attacked the olive pickers and journalists at the scene.
Hit by several stones in the back, arm and hand, Ashtiyeh was discharged from hospital in the afternoon and is suffering from bruising.
His car, along with a handful of others parked at a safe distance from the field, was stoned and then set on fire by the assailants.
Ashtiyeh said Israeli soldiers who were present before the attack did nothing to stop the attackers from advancing, but instead fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the olive pickers and activists to disperse them.
“We strongly condemn this outrageous attack which is another illustration of the increasingly dangerous working environment for our journalists in the West Bank,” said Mehdi Lebouachera, AFP’s Global Editor-In-Chief.
“We urge the Israeli military to not only ensure the protection of journalists going about their work but also to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice,” he added.
Contacted by AFP about the incident, the Israeli military did not immediately respond.
The Palestinian health ministry said settler attacks injured 36 people on Friday in Beita and other nearby villages, with most of them suffering minor or moderate injuries, with the exception of two who were wounded by gunfire.
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