Israeli police arrest 10 suspects after settler attacks in the West Bank

Israeli police said they arrested 10 suspects over settler violence in the occupied West Bank, including attacks on a US photojournalist and European diplomats. The arrests follow incidents that have drawn attention to violence affecting Palestinians and visitors in the territory, though the police statement in the account does not identify the suspects or specify charges.

The New Yorker’s account centers on independent journalist Jasper Nathaniel, who filmed the attack on the journalist and described a significant increase in West Bank violence in 2026 compared with prior years. He said he had arrived on October 6 and planned to remain beyond the Israeli election scheduled for October 27.

His account emphasizes conditions on the ground and the timing of the violence before the vote. DW reports that settlers also attacked a convoy of European diplomats during a West Bank visit. The group included French mayor Bernard Baudoux, who was there to help with the harvest.

The Washington Post headline frames the attack on the journalist as part of an ongoing siege for West Bank Palestinians, while the New Yorker foregrounds Nathaniel’s account of increased violence. These are distinct emphases: one presents the attack within a broader condition facing Palestinians; the other reports a journalist’s description of a recent increase.

Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, reported at least 170 settler attacks since September 27. The figure provides a wider measure of reported violence, but it does not establish how many incidents led to arrests or convictions.

A separate Yesh Din study of Israeli police investigations into violence against Palestinians from 2005 to 2023 found that about 3% ended in full or partial convictions. More than 80% were closed because police failed to identify suspects or gather sufficient evidence, according to the report. The attacks occurred ahead of the October 27 Israeli election.

Nathaniel linked the broader increase he described to the period since the current government took office in 2022 and especially since October 7, 2023; that is his assessment of the political context, not a finding about the cause of any specific attack.

DW also places the attacks before the election, while the New Yorker records Nathaniel’s view that violence against Palestinians has risen substantially this year.

After the diplomats’ convoy attack, Benjamin Netanyahu raised the possibility that it formed part of a “coordinated campaign to smear Israel.” That is Netanyahu’s characterization; the reporting does not provide evidence establishing coordination.

The accounts describe the police arrests and the competing emphasis on a wider pattern of violence, but do not report charges or convictions in the current cases.