Jaafar Ashtiyeh was reportedly struck with rifle butts despite being clearly identified as press, while around a dozen IDF soldiers looked on
Armed Israeli settlers have beaten and robbed an AFP photographer marked as press in the occupied West Bank, according to media reports. Around a dozen IDF soldiers were present and did not intervene.
Veteran Palestinian photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh was hospitalized after being repeatedly struck with rifle butts. The assault is the latest in a growing series of attacks on journalists in the West Bank.
The Committee to Protect Journalists documented at least 16 incidents involving 35 Palestinian, Israeli and international journalists in the first eight months of 2026 alone, already exceeding the 13 incidents involving 25 journalists it recorded throughout 2025.
The attack took place near the village of Aqraba on Tuesday as Ashtiyeh, 58, and fellow AFP photographer John Wessels were documenting Palestinians harvesting olives. The journalists saw an Israeli soldier detaining a Palestinian before a man on a quad bike approached and opened fire, according to AFP.
A Palestinian was shot in the foot and hospitalized, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said.
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Israeli settlers routinely target theses locals during the annual olive harvest, attacking farmers and seizing or destroying crops and trees that provide a vital source of income.
At least six other armed men then rushed toward the journalists while firing their weapons. As Ashtiyeh tried to enter a vehicle clearly marked “Press,” two men tackled him and repeatedly struck him with rifle butts.
“I could hear his screams,” Wessels said. He was also threatened at gunpoint, while the attackers took Ashtiyeh’s camera equipment.
Ashtiyeh was left with bruises on his head and torso and was hospitalized. Around a dozen fully equipped IDF soldiers were stationed roughly 500 meters away but did not intervene, according to Wessels. AFP said it had contacted the Israeli military for comment.
“We strongly condemn yet another serious attack on journalists trying to report on events in the West Bank and demand a full investigation,” AFP global news director Phil Chetwynd said. He called it “unacceptable” that journalists could be beaten and robbed by armed settlers while Israeli security forces failed to intervene.
The incident comes as settler violence against local residents in the West Bank has intensified, with near-daily attacks, theft and vandalism reported in recent months. Extremist settlers have also reportedly seized Palestinian-owned olive groves.
Journalists documenting the crimes have increasingly been caught up in the violence. In August, settlers attacked a three-person AFP team east of Bethlehem, throwing stones, striking one journalist with a stick and damaging their vehicle.
Days earlier, Haaretz reporter Matan Golan and photographer Itay Rom were attacked near Qusra – showing that even journalists working for Israeli media have not been spared. Settlers surrounded their vehicle, with one kicking and spitting on Golan, while Israeli soldiers nearby did not intervene, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Earlier this year, Palestinian journalists were beaten, threatened or driven from assignments in a string of other incidents, while crews from CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera and Anadolu were also confronted or attacked by settlers.
The attacks come against an already deadly backdrop for the press. Israel was responsible for 86 of the record 129 journalists and media workers killed worldwide in 2025 – roughly two thirds of the global total – according to CPJ.
