Israeli news crew attacked by settlers during West Bank clashes

An Israeli news crew was attacked by settlers on Tuesday during clashes with Palestinian olive harvesters in the West Bank.

Ohad Hemo of Channel 12 news and his cameraman were reporting on residents of Burka, a village near Ramallah, who were accompanied by Palestinian volunteers to protect them while picking olives.

As the group walked toward the olive trees, they were confronted by several Israelis from the Oz Zion outpost, who tried to stop them from approaching. Fighting broke out between the sides when one of the Palestinian volunteers pushed a settler who told a Palestinian man not to touch him.

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During the clashes, some of the settlers threw stones at Hemo and his cameraman, and one of them hit the reporter in the arm with a cudgel.

“Get out of here, you betray your people,” one of the settlers yelled at Hemo.

עימות בין מתנחלים למוסקים פלסטינים בבורקא, ליד רמאללה. המתנחלים מנסים למנוע מהפלסטינים למסוק זיתים בשטחם. צחי ירון הצלם ואנוכי מותקפים ע״י יהודים. אבנים שנזרקות כלפינו ללא הפסק, כאלה שיכולות להרוג. רעול פנים שרץ ומכה אותי באלה בלי להתבלבל. שגרה. pic.twitter.com/iNySRWD3Dt

— אוהד חמו (@ohadh1) October 13, 2020

Hemo and his cameraman then left the area as the Israelis continued to hurl rocks. They did not appear to sustain injuries that required medical treatment.

The clashes ended as a group of Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene, the network said.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s official Wafa news agency, two Palestinians were injured in the clashes.

The incident came as the olive harvest, which regularly sees clashes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers, gets underway.

According to Yesh Din, a rights group, there have been 14 incidents of vandalism and destruction related to the olive harvest since October 5, including five assaults by settlers on Palestinian farmers.