A Palestinian woman and members of an NBC News reporting crew were attacked and injured by masked Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday. Three members of the news organization were interviewing 51-year-old Aida Ahmed Abdullah and her family in the Palestinian town of Jalud, located near Nablus, when the assault unfolded according to The Guardian.
Media Team and Resident Injured in West Bank Settler Assault
According to international correspondent Matt Bradley, a car bearing Israeli license plates reversed up a hill toward them, and at least four men with their faces covered leaped out of the vehicle. The attackers struck Abdullah and the crew members with sticks while throwing rocks at them. Bradley was hit twice in the arm and later received treatment at a local clinic.
Abdullah, who was left on the ground following the violence, was transported for medical care by the Red Crescent. Her injuries were described as non-life-threatening by an Israeli military and Israel Border Police statement. Her husband, Mahmoud Toubasi, stated that her condition improved while she remained hospitalized on Saturday night. Three additional members of the NBC News team—including a cameraman and a producer—sustained injuries and received medical treatment.
Details of the Attack and Conflicting Official Accounts
Producer Lawahez Jabari described the sudden arrival of the vehicle and the assailants carrying sticks, noting that she observed a gun but that the attackers did not discharge the firearm. Camera operator Khaldoon Eid expressed surprise that the incident occurred directly in the middle of a Palestinian village next to local houses.
Israeli security forces stated that they received reports of violent clashes involving stone-hurling toward Palestinians and other civilians. According to their statement, forces identified dozens of rioters who had barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home containing residents. Security personnel separated the groups, removed the rioters to protect the residents inside, and confiscated vehicles suspected of being used by the Israeli rioters to reach the area. Defense forces and border police continued operating in the Jalud and Qusra areas to restore order.
Official Condemnations and Broader Regional Context
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his spokesman Doron Spielman condemned the violence directed at Abdullah and the news crew, alongside other incidents that occurred across the area on Saturday. Netanyahu characterized the actions as criminal acts committed by a handful of rioters violating the law, adding that they cause enormous injustice to law-abiding settlers, hinder the Israel Defense Forces, and harm Israel’s international standing. Spielman stated on X that the perpetrators’ actions endanger both Jews and Arabs and interfere with vital security missions, noting that Netanyahu requested security forces to apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators.
The violence coincided with separate incidents in the region, including masked settlers spraying pepper spray at Palestinian workers and throwing rocks at a building in nearby Qusra. Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicates that Israeli forces or settlers killed 76 Palestinians in the West Bank over a 12-month period leading to July 24, while three Israelis were killed during the same timeframe.
