Washington is “very disturbed” by the attack on American journalist Heidi Levine in the occupied West Bank, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says.
Rubio made the remarks on Saturday after footage circulated showing masked Israeli settlers assaulting Levine, a Washington Post photojournalist, while she was covering the annual olive harvest in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, on Friday.
President Donald Trump had made clear that he did not want to see a new crisis in the occupied West Bank, while the US State Department had contacted its embassy to obtain further information about the assault, Rubio added.
He also said Washington was closely monitoring concerns about violence during the olive harvest season, when many people traditionally visit the area.
Levine, 64, suffered a broken rib, multiple fractured vertebrae and a severe finger injury requiring surgery after the attack, according to details provided by her daughter.
Witnesses said the attackers also took the journalist’s passport, telephone, wallet, and equipment, while Levine recounted that she was kicked repeatedly as she tried to protect her cameras and bag.
The attack occurred amid a surge in Israeli settler violence during the annual Palestinian olive harvest, with attacks reported in at least eight West Bank villages on Friday, including assaults on Palestinian residents and damage to olive groves.
The United Nations on Friday called for a thorough investigation, with deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq saying that the attack violated a journalist’s right to carry out her work without harassment.
US ambassador calls assault ‘despicable act of terror’
US ambassador to occupied Palestine, Michael Huckabee, demanded on Saturday that Israeli authorities investigate the assault, arrest those responsible and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law.
“Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards,” Huckabee wrote on X, adding that those who attacked the unarmed journalist “should spend [years] in prison.”
Huckabee also described Levine as a US citizen who was clearly identified as a journalist and said she suffered “serious injuries from vicious and cowardly attack.”
The assault is the latest in a series of attacks on US citizens in the occupied West Bank, where four Americans have been killed by Israeli settlers or forces since Trump returned to office in January 2025.
The victims include 14-year-old Amer Rabee, who was killed in April 2025, 20-year-old Saifullah Musallet, who was beaten to death in July 2025, Khamis Ayyad, who died after settlers set fire to homes and vehicles in August 2025, and 19-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siyam, who was shot dead in February 2026.
Those deaths bring the total number of American citizens killed by Israeli settlers or forces in the West Bank since January 2022 to nine.
US journalists have also been attacked while reporting in the territory, including an NBC News team assaulted by masked Israeli settlers in the village of Jalud on August 29, 2026, while interviewing a Palestinian woman who said settlers had driven her family from their home.
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