Media watchdogs raise alarm over escalating violence against reporters in the West Bank

November 10, 2025 – Palestine – 

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) has publicly demanded urgent intervention by Israeli authorities following multiple assaults by settlers on journalists covering the olive-harvest season in the occupied West Bank. The association, which represents international correspondents in Israel and the Palestinian territories, condemned the attacks as evidence of a growing “climate of hostility” toward the press.

According to FPA, both local and foreign journalists have become explicit targets while documenting what the association calls “an unprecedented level of unchecked violence” against Palestinians during this year’s harvest. Among the cited incidents is the assault on two Reuters employees, who were clearly identified as media professionals in protective gear when attacked by masked settlers near the village of Beita.

In its statement, the FPA noted that around fifty masked men wielding clubs and rocks emerged from a settler outpost and launched a coordinated attack on journalists and activists in the field. The association called the event “unacceptable” and urged Israeli law enforcement and military authorities to investigate the incident, identify perpetrators, and provide safe conditions for press coverage.

Media-freedom advocates outside the region warn that the assaults are symptomatic of broader structural risks faced by reporters covering sensitive areas of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They point out that the FPA’s intervention highlights not just isolated violence but a systemic erosion of protections for journalists operating amid rising settler aggression and military occupation.

The Israeli government has not publicly committed to specific new safeguards for journalists in the harvest zone or announced a dedicated inquiry into settler attacks on media personnel. Regardless, the FPA’s statement serves as both a protest and a call for accountability, signalling that the international press community is closely watching developments on the ground. Unless Israeli authorities intervene with clear and enforceable measures, the space for independent reporting in the West Bank may continue to contract, with broader implications for transparency and equal access to information in a conflict zone.

Reference – 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/foreign-press-association-demands-action-from-israel-over-settler-attacks-on-journalists/

The Foreign Press Association on Settler Attacks Against Journalists [November 10, 2025]

https://www.newarab.com/news/media-association-slams-israeli-settler-attacks-journalists