Journalist Alaa Badarneh injured in West Bank settler attack

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 11 November 2026 |  JP Middle East Desk

Photojournalist Alaa Badarneh was injured during an attack on olive harvesters in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu Agency reported. A journalists' federation said he was covering the harvest; Israeli police have opened an investigation.

Summary

NEWS DESK — Palestinian photojournalist Alaa Badarneh was injured on November 10 when Israeli settlers attacked olive harvesters and accompanying activists near Qusra in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian media reports and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

Badarneh, a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency, sustained bruises and a hand injury during the assault between Qusra and Jalud, south of Nablus. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society treated him at the scene. The attack left six people injured, according to the Israeli human rights organization Rabbis for Human Rights.

Six injured during olive harvest

Qusra Mayor Abdul Azim Wadi told Anadolu Agency that settlers attacked Palestinian farmers and foreign solidarity activists, throwing stones and damaging several vehicles. He said Badarneh and a foreign activist were among those injured.

The Times of Israel reported that Rabbis for Human Rights identified the injured as four of its volunteers, a journalist and a Palestinian resident. Two people with head injuries were taken to hospital, while others received treatment at the scene.

Video footage provided by the organization showed masked attackers throwing stones, striking people with clubs and taking harvested olives.

According to the group's staff member Ezra Brownstein, volunteers had been harvesting for approximately 90 minutes when they noticed settlers gathering on a nearby hill. They contacted police before the attack began.

Israeli police open investigation

Brownstein told The Times of Israel that approximately 20 settlers attacked the volunteers after Israeli soldiers arrived in the area.

He said soldiers fired tear gas to disperse the attackers, who subsequently regrouped and attempted to approach from another direction. The volunteers eventually abandoned the olive grove.

Israeli police announced an investigation into the incident. The Israeli military confirmed that forces had been dispatched to the area but did not provide a detailed account of their actions.

No findings from the police investigation have been reported.

The attack also disrupted harvesting activities already affected by repeated violence, according to Qusra's mayor. Wadi estimated that residents had been able to harvest olives from only about 33 percent of their trees this season.

Journalists face repeated attacks

The IFJ said on November 10 that at least five journalists and media workers had been arrested by Israeli forces or attacked by settlers while covering the West Bank olive harvest since October.

The federation cited several earlier incidents, including an October 6 attack on Agence France-Presse photographer Jaafar Ishtayeh by armed settlers.

On October 16, American photojournalist Heidi Levine, who works for The Washington Post, was assaulted while covering events in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah. The IFJ said she required hospital treatment.

Portuguese journalist Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro was detained on October 8 while reporting near Rantis and deported the following day, according to the federation.

Another Portuguese journalist, Marta Vidal, was detained on October 28 while reporting on the olive harvest in Al-Lubban Al-Gharbi. Her journalists' union said she was released after three days in detention.

The IFJ condemned the repeated incidents and urged Israeli authorities to protect journalists and hold those responsible for attacks accountable.

The federation said the pattern of arrests, assaults and intimidation threatened journalists' ability to document events in the occupied West Bank and undermined the public's right to receive independent reporting.

ATTRIBUTION: Based on reporting by Anadolu Agency, WAFA, and The Times of Israel, November 10, 2026. Additional information from the International Federation of Journalists and the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, November 10, 2026.

PHOTO: AI-generated image; not a photograph of the November 10 attack.