Israeli settlers beat AFP photographer covering West Bank
AFP said the photographers were covering settler violence against olive farmers when assailants beat one, fired guns and took camera equipment.
- On Tuesday, Israeli settlers beat AFP photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh and fired at him and colleague John Wessels near the West Bank village of Aqraba while they covered violence against olive farmers.
- The attack occurred amid rising West Bank tensions where 500,000 Israeli settlers live among three million Palestinians, with violence flaring in recent months as settlers seize olive groves owned by Palestinians.
- After a man on a quad bike opened fire, at least six others rushed the journalists, beating Ashtiyeh with guns and stealing equipment, despite a dozen soldiers stationed 500 metres away.
- Ashtiyeh remains under 24-hour supervision in a Nablus hospital, prompting AFP Global News Director Phil Chetwynd to condemn the attack as "unacceptable" and demand a full investigation.
- Since the October 7, 2023, attack by Gaza-based Hamas, authorities have detained 19 journalists in the West Bank, with media rights groups reporting increasing impediments to coverage.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Armed Israeli settlers assaulted an AFP photographer and shot Palestinian farmers during this Tuesday's olive harvest in the village of Aqraba in the West Bank. At least two people were injured in the attack, which occurred in the so-called Area B, an area under Palestinian civilian control and outside the settlement jurisdiction, where Israel maintains only the security authority.
The journalist is now hospitalized in Nablus. AFP denounces "a serious attack" which is not a first.
Since the beginning of the war in Gaza in 2023, violence has exploded in the West Bank, where attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians are almost daily. Jaafar Ashtiyeh,
Lietuvos Radijas ir Televizija
The Straits TimesIsraeli settlers on Tuesday beat up an AFP photographer who was covering ongoing settler violence against West Bank olive growers and fired several shots at him and his colleague.
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- 42% of the sources are Center, 42% of the sources lean Right
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