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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged Israel to crack down on attacks in the occupied West Bank after American photojournalist Heidi Levine was beaten while covering the annual Palestinian olive harvest.
Washington is "very disturbed" by reports of the assault, Rubio told reporters Saturday, adding that the U.S. had contacted its embassy to gather more information about the incident. "We've asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff," Rubio said, referring to the attack on Levine.
He added that President Donald Trump "has been very clear" that he does not want to see "friction" or a new crisis in the West Bank.
Rubio also rejected the suggestion that Trump's decision to lift sanctions against Israeli occupiers on his first day in office last year amounted to support for attacks such as the one against Levine.
"Lifting sanctions ... does not mean he's a supporter of what he's seeing now on television, what he's reading about," Rubio said.
Washington is also watching concerns over violence during the olive harvest season, a period that traditionally brings many people into the occupied West Bank, he added. Rubio warned that similar concerns could emerge in Lebanon.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee also called on Israeli authorities to investigate the assault, arrest those responsible, and pursue prosecutions to the fullest extent of the law.
"Attacking a female photographer is a despicable act of terror carried out by masked cowards," Huckabee wrote on X on Saturday.
"Those who attacked unarmed reporter should spend (years) in prison," he added, demanding a full investigation and the prosecution of everyone involved.
Huckabee said Levine had suffered "serious injuries from vicious and cowardly attack" and stressed that she was a U.S. citizen who had clearly identified herself as a journalist.
Levine, a Washington Post photojournalist, was documenting the annual Palestinian olive harvest in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, on Friday when dozens of masked Israeli settlers descended on Palestinian farmers and attacked them.
The assailants hurled stones with slingshots, set olive groves on fire and chased journalists away from the scene, according to witnesses and video footage.
Levine, who wore a protective vest marked "PRESS" and a helmet, was knocked to the ground and repeatedly kicked as the attackers stripped her of her cameras, phone, passport, wallet, and other belongings.
She was taken to a hospital in the Ramallah area, where she was treated for serious injuries. The Washington Post reported that she suffered a broken rib and four broken vertebrae and needed surgery on one hand.
"They were kicking me for like 10 minutes, and I was trying to hold onto my cameras and my bag," Levine recalled, describing how she tried to protect her equipment as the assault continued. Other journalists and Palestinian villagers eventually reached her and helped her get away from the attackers.
The violence continued Saturday, when masked Israeli settlers attacked European diplomats, Catholic representatives and a visiting French mayor in the Christian village of Taybeh.
Bernard Baudoux, the 78-year-old mayor of Aulnoye-Aymeries in northern France, said he was struck with metal bars and kicked after identifying himself with a French tricolor sash.
"Three vehicles arrived. Several masked individuals, armed with metal bars, got out and came toward us with extreme aggressiveness," Baudoux wrote in a Facebook post.
He and the other visitors had traveled to the village to formalize a twinning agreement and take part in the olive harvest.
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