Masked Israeli settlers attack US news crew in West Bank

Masked Israeli settlers have attacked and injured an NBC News crew and a local woman in the West Bank, the US broadcaster has reported. The journalists were accompanying a Palestinian family to a home they said they had been forced to abandon because of settler violence.

Attacks by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian territories have surged since the Gaza war began in October 2023, with the UN recording violence at unprecedented levels.

The latest assault took place on Saturday in the village of Jalud near Nablus, where NBC correspondent Matt Bradley and his colleagues had been speaking to 51-year-old Aida Ahmed Abdullah. Footage shows a vehicle with Israeli license plates approaching before at least three masked men emerged and attacked the group with sticks and rocks.

“They jumped out, beat us, then jumped back in the car,” Bradley said. He was struck twice in the arm and received treatment at a clinic, while other members of the crew were also injured and equipment and a vehicle were damaged. Abdullah was taken for medical treatment.

The Foreign Press Association said on Sunday it was “deeply alarmed,” stressing that the assault was “not an isolated incident” but part of a “recurring pattern of violence against members of the press and Palestinian civilians.” It urged Israeli police and the IDF’s Central Command to investigate and hold those responsible accountable. No arrests had been reported by Sunday.

The UN said in June that more than 1,000 attacks causing casualties or property damage had been recorded this year, averaging six incidents a day – the highest rate since records began.

In nearby Qusra, dozens of Israelis entered the Palestinian village on Saturday and targeted a home with residents inside. Israeli forces intervened, but no arrests have been made despite some suspects reportedly being identifiable. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the violence, blaming a “handful of rioters.”

Palestinian Americans have also been caught up in West Bank violence. Saifullah Kamal Musallet, 20, was beaten to death by Israeli settlers in 2025, while 14-year-old New Jersey-born Amer Rabee was shot dead by Israeli troops. Amer believed his US citizenship would keep him “protected” and “free,” his father Mohammed Rabee told RT.

US lawmakers have accused Washington of failing to secure accountability for Americans killed in the territory. In a letter to the administration of US President Donald Trump this year, senators demanded independent investigations, citing an ongoing “lack of accountability” for their deaths.

The violence comes as Israel pushes ahead with further settlement expansion in the West Bank. Netanyahu said last week that Israel would continue building there in preparation for a “major” wave of Jewish immigration, declaring: “This is our land and it will remain ours.” Israel has also opened tenders for more than 1,200 homes in the E1 area, a largely undeveloped part of the West Bank, as part of a wider plan for roughly 3,400 units.

More than 20 Western countries have called the project “unacceptable,” warning it would divide the West Bank and undermine prospects for a two-state solution. Arab and Muslim states have likewise demanded an immediate halt. Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law.

Russia has repeatedly said a negotiated two-state solution is the only viable path to peace, supporting an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital alongside Israel.