A Palestinian woman has been hospitalised after being brutally clubbed over the head by a masked Israeli settler while picking olives in her village. The unprovoked attack, which occurred on Sunday morning, was captured on video by US journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who witnessed the assault and said the settler knocked the woman unconscious with his stick before hitting her again as she lay on the ground.
The woman, identified as 55-year-old Afaf Abu Alia, also known locally as Umm Saleh, is now in a stable condition after being initially admitted to an intensive care unit. Medical staff found that she had been struck twice in the head during the attack.
The incident has sparked outrage among Palestinian communities, who face heightened risks during harvest season due to organised assaults and Israeli security forces blocking roads and access to their lands. The United Nations' humanitarian office reported 71 settler attacks across the West Bank between October 7-13, with half of them related to the ongoing harvest season.
Attacks by settlers are intended to intimidate Palestinians and drive them from their land, allowing settlers to seize it. However, most incidents go unpunished, with only 3% of official investigations into settler violence resulting in convictions. The US State Department declined to comment on the specific incident due to "privacy and other considerations".
The attack is part of a wider trend of settler violence during the olive harvest, which officially began on October 9. Farming communities across the West Bank face heightened risks during this time, including attacks by settlers and Israeli security forces. Over 3,200 Palestinians have been injured in settler attacks since 2025, according to UN data.
The incident has raised concerns about US citizens living in the occupied West Bank, with journalist Jasper Nathaniel saying that a US embassy official told him they were not able to offer protection to him or other US citizens in the area. The US State Department added that it had no higher priority than the safety and security of its citizens abroad but declined to comment further due to privacy concerns.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said the confrontation was dispersed after their forces arrived, but Nathaniel rejected this account, saying no Israeli forces were present during the attack. The incident has highlighted the need for accountability for settler violence in the occupied West Bank and the urgent need for international pressure on Israel to protect Palestinian civilians from such attacks.
The woman, identified as 55-year-old Afaf Abu Alia, also known locally as Umm Saleh, is now in a stable condition after being initially admitted to an intensive care unit. Medical staff found that she had been struck twice in the head during the attack.
The incident has sparked outrage among Palestinian communities, who face heightened risks during harvest season due to organised assaults and Israeli security forces blocking roads and access to their lands. The United Nations' humanitarian office reported 71 settler attacks across the West Bank between October 7-13, with half of them related to the ongoing harvest season.
Attacks by settlers are intended to intimidate Palestinians and drive them from their land, allowing settlers to seize it. However, most incidents go unpunished, with only 3% of official investigations into settler violence resulting in convictions. The US State Department declined to comment on the specific incident due to "privacy and other considerations".
The attack is part of a wider trend of settler violence during the olive harvest, which officially began on October 9. Farming communities across the West Bank face heightened risks during this time, including attacks by settlers and Israeli security forces. Over 3,200 Palestinians have been injured in settler attacks since 2025, according to UN data.
The incident has raised concerns about US citizens living in the occupied West Bank, with journalist Jasper Nathaniel saying that a US embassy official told him they were not able to offer protection to him or other US citizens in the area. The US State Department added that it had no higher priority than the safety and security of its citizens abroad but declined to comment further due to privacy concerns.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said the confrontation was dispersed after their forces arrived, but Nathaniel rejected this account, saying no Israeli forces were present during the attack. The incident has highlighted the need for accountability for settler violence in the occupied West Bank and the urgent need for international pressure on Israel to protect Palestinian civilians from such attacks.
This is so disturbing 
. I mean, can you imagine being out there picking olives with your family and then getting brutally attacked by some guy in a mask? It's just not right 
. The fact that it happened on camera is just sickening 
. And the US embassy official saying they couldn't offer protection to US citizens? That's just unacceptable 
.
. The UN is reporting all these incidents and the Israeli Defence Forces are just saying it was dispersed... yeah, right 
. I mean, who wants to believe that? This just shows us that there's a huge problem with accountability in Israel 
.
. She should be getting justice, not just medical treatment 
. The international community needs to step up and make some noise about this kind of thing... or else we'll keep seeing more incidents like this 
.
i mean, a 55-yr-old woman just picking olives like she's doing nothing wrong gets brutally attacked by some psycho settler and no one's doing anything about it 
the US govt's all evasive too, citing 'privacy concerns' 
meanwhile, over 3200 ppl have gotten hurt in these kinds of attacks since 2025 
and it's still a big deal that US citizens are basically left to fend for themselves in areas like this 
i feel for Umm Saleh and all her community, they deserve so much better 
This latest attack is just sickening... I mean, who does that? 
It's a bit of a mess over there, and it feels like no one's really doing anything to stop these settler attacks. 
We can't just sit back and let this happen.
This is a human rights issue at its core, and we need to be focusing on supporting Afaf Abu Alia and other Palestinians who are being targeted by these settlers. 
, i hope she recovers soon. we need to talk about this in a way that actually does some good, you know? like, what can we do to stop these attacks? 
. We need to be holding our leaders accountable for this and making sure that there are consequences for these violent acts.
. We need to keep pushing for justice and human rights, especially for those who are already marginalized and vulnerable.
how can we expect israel to protect its citizens abroad when it cant even do that for palestinians in their own land? 3k injured since 2025 is just insane 
what's up with these settlers think they can just do whatever they want and get away wit it? 71 settler attacks in the west bank since october 7th is straight up unacceptable 
this is so wrong! A 55-yr-old woman just beaten to a pulp by a settler while picking olives? It's like, what even is that? The fact that it happened in broad daylight and got recorded on camera is just infuriating 
. We need to wake up and take notice of what's going on in the occupied West Bank. It's time for some serious change! 
The US State Department's response about not being able to comment on privacy concerns because a US citizen was attacked... are you kidding me?! We need international pressure on Israel to stop this kind of violence and start holding those responsible accountable. It's time for change, and we can't just sit around and do nothing while our brothers and sisters are getting beaten over the head. 
. And to think that most incidents like this go unpunished because of "privacy concerns" is just infuriating 
.
. We also need international pressure on Israel to change its policies and protect Palestinian civilians from such attacks. It's not right that most incidents go unpunished, with only 3% of investigations resulting in convictions 
️.
she gets hit twice in the head & now shes hospitalized . its so sick that settler attacks dont even get punished lol only 3% of investigations result in convictions . international pressure is needed on israel to stop these attacks 
. like, wht's up w/ dat?! we need 2 b talkin bout this more & demandin justice 4 these ppl 