AFP photographer injured in settler attack on West Bank olive harvest

By AFP 10 October 2025, 9:42 pm

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The vehicle of AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh is pictured ablaze after it was set on fire during an attack by Israeli settlers on the West Bank village of Beita, south of Nablus, during the annual olive harvest season, October 10, 2025. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)

An AFP photographer is injured after an attack by Israeli settlers on Friday while covering the olive harvest in a Palestinian village in the West Bank.

“In my 30-year career, this is the first time I have faced violence of this kind,” says Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a Palestinian photographer based in the city of Nablus.

“If I hadn’t managed to escape, they would have killed me,” he adds.

Ashtiyeh says 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.

Israeli army soldiers and an armoured vehicle deploy (top R) behind as Palestinian men and first-responders attempt to extinguish a vehicle that was set ablaze during an attack by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and other activists who had gathered for the annual olive harvest season in the Palestinian village of Beita, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on October 10, 2025 during the annual olive harvest season. (Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Shortly after midday, 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 says he was discharged from the 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 says 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.

Israeli army soldiers stand behind a masked man swinging a slingshot while hurling stones at Palestinians who had gathered for the annual olive harvest season, during an attack by Israeli settlers on the Palestinian village of Beita, south of Nablus in the West Bank, on October 10, 2025. (ASHTIYEH / AFP)

“We strongly condemn this outrageous attack, which is another illustration of the increasingly dangerous working environment for our journalists in the West Bank,” says 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 adds.

The IDF did not immediately respond when asked for comment on the incident.

The Palestinian health ministry says 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.