Armed settlers assaulted American journalist Jasper Nathaniel and Israeli-Russian activist Andrey X in Umm al-Khair, beating both men and stealing their personal belongings before Israeli authorities placed them under arrest. Russian activist Adele Shoko reported that Nathaniel was pepper-sprayed and Andrey X was denied hospital care despite losing consciousness and suffering a concussion. The violence follows a separate incident where Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was hospitalized after masked settlers attacked an olive harvest in Abu Falah.
Key points
International and local media workers are increasingly being targeted with physical assau…: International and local media workers are increasingly being targeted with physical assaults, robbery, and detention while documenting West Bank events.
Responding security forces have detained targeted journalists and deployed live ammunitio…: Responding security forces have detained targeted journalists and deployed live ammunition that wounded a Palestinian civilian during recent settler confrontations.
The violent targeting of press members has provoked condemnation from news leadership alo…: The violent targeting of press members has provoked condemnation from news leadership alongside calls from United States lawmakers for official investigations.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Video footage posted online showed several men, some of them armed, beating Nathaniel and Andrey X.
Russian activist Adele Shoko has said that Israeli settlers attacked her alongside two of her colleagues in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, according to social media posts.
Shoko said on social media platform X that she, US journalist Jasper Nathaniel, and Israeli-Russian activist Andrey X were beaten and threatened by armed settlers who stole equipment and personal items.
“Jasper and I were also beaten. Jasper was then pepper-sprayed and arrested,” Shoko wrote, adding that Nathaniel was taken away by Israeli forces.
Shoko said Andrey X suffered a concussion and lost consciousness multiple times during the incident before being detained by authorities.
“Andrey was severely beaten and lost consciousness several times in front of police. Despite this, he was denied hospital treatment. He was put in an ambulance – but instead of being taken to hospital, he was taken to a police station. He is still there, arrested and being denied medical care,” she…
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