Activist claims settlers attacked team in West Bank village

A Russian activist says armed Israeli settlers assaulted her and two colleagues in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday. Adele Shoko posted on X that the group was attacked in the village of Umm al-Khair, located in the Masafer Yatta area.

Shoko stated that she, US journalist Jasper Nathaniel, and Israeli-Russian activist Andrey X were beaten and threatened during the incident. She claimed the settlers stole equipment and personal items from the trio before leaving the scene.

Shoko described Nathaniel’s experience as escalating after the initial beating. She wrote that he was pepper-sprayed and then taken into custody by Israeli forces. Video footage posted by Shoko shows authorities leading Nathaniel away while he shouts that he has just been beaten.

The activist reported that Andrey X suffered a severe concussion and lost consciousness multiple times. Shoko said he was denied hospital treatment and placed in an ambulance that took him to a police station instead of a hospital. She noted that he remains detained and is still waiting for medical care.

This event follows a similar attack in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, on October 16. Masked settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, setting trees on fire and throwing stones. Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was covering that incident when she was beaten and robbed.

Levine was wearing a protective vest marked PRESS when settlers kicked and beat her. They stole her passport, phone, and camera equipment. Israeli soldiers who arrived on the scene fired live ammunition and tear gas, shooting a Palestinian man in the leg. Washington Post Executive Editor Matt Murray called the incident an unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job.