In the Palestinian village of Jalud near Nablus, an NBC News team documenting forced displacement became the story itself when masked settlers arrived by car and attacked journalists and a Palestinian woman with sticks and rocks. The assault on correspondent Matt Bradley and his crew is not an isolated rupture but a visible moment within a longer pattern of settler violence that international observers and humanitarian agencies have been tracking for years. Netanyahu condemned the attackers as rioters acting against Israel's interests, yet his government continues to face the deeper question o
NBC News team and Palestinian woman attacked by masked settlers in West Bank
NBC News correspondent Matt Bradley was hit twice in the arm; Palestinian woman Aida Abdullah, 51, and three other crew members were injured and received medical treatment.
Settlers had sticks, I saw a gun, but they didn't use the gun.
Mark
Why were they there in the first place? What was the story they were trying to tell?
Mimi
They were documenting displacement—Aida Abdullah's family had been driven out of their home by settlers, and the NBC team was interviewing them about it. That's what brought them to Jalud that day.
Luke
And we know that's what Abdullah told them, but do we have independent confirmation that settlers actually forced her family out? Or is that her account of what happened?
Mimi
The reporting says she told the outlet that settlers had driven them out. That's her claim, which is what the journalists were there to investigate.
Mark
So the attack happened while they were in the middle of reporting. They weren't hiding or trying to be inconspicuous.
Mimi
They were walking down a hill toward the house, openly conducting an interview. There's no suggestion they were concealing what they were doing.
Luke
The statement from Israeli security forces mentions "violent clashes" and "stone-hurling toward Palestinians." That's different from what happened to the NBC team. How many separate incidents are we actually talking about here?
Mimi
At least three: the attack on the journalists, the pepper-spraying of workers in Qusra, and the barricading of the Palestinian home. All on the same day, all in the same general area.
Mark
Netanyahu blamed "a handful of rioters." Does that language match what we're seeing—organized enough to coordinate multiple incidents across villages?
Luke
That's a fair question, but the reporting doesn't tell us whether these were coordinated or coincidental. We know they happened; we don't know if they were planned together.
Mimi
What we do know is that this isn't new. Settlers had already blocked supplies to Palestinian houses earlier in the month. There's a pattern here.
Mark
And the U.S. ambassador objected to that?
Mimi
Yes. The blocking of supplies drew strong criticism from the ambassador. So this is on the international radar.
Il Polso
- A car with Israeli plates reversed up a hillside and four masked men leapt out mid-interview, turning a journalism assignment into a scene of sudden, targeted violence.
- Matt Bradley, producer Lawahez Jabari, camera operator Khaldoon Eid, and Palestinian resident Aida Abdullah were all struck — the attack lasting only moments before the assailants fled back into the vehicle.
- The same afternoon, Palestinian workers in nearby Qusra were pepper-sprayed, and Israeli security forces reported rioters barricading themselves inside a Palestinian home with residents trapped inside.
- Israeli forces confiscated vehicles and worked to separate groups, but the patchwork response underscores a structural tension between military operations and the settler movement operating in the same hills.
- Netanyahu's condemnation named the attackers 'rioters' while sidestepping the broader pattern — a rhetorical move that critics say reflects a government more concerned with international optics than accountability.
- UN figures show 76 Palestinians killed in the West Bank in a single year against three Israeli deaths, lending statistical weight to what human rights organizations describe as a climate of systemic impunity.
In the Palestinian village of Jalud near Nablus, an NBC News team documenting forced displacement became the story itself when masked settlers arrived by car and attacked journalists and a Palestinian woman with sticks and rocks. The assault on correspondent Matt Bradley and his crew is not an isolated rupture but a visible moment within a longer pattern of settler violence that international observers and humanitarian agencies have been tracking for years. Netanyahu condemned the attackers as rioters acting against Israel's interests, yet his government continues to face the deeper question of whether condemnation without accountability is its own form of permission.
On a Saturday afternoon in Jalud, near Nablus, an NBC News crew had come to document something quiet and painful — a Palestinian family's account of being driven from their home by settlers. Aida Abdullah, 51, was walking with the journalists toward the house when a car with Israeli license plates reversed up the hill. Men with covered faces jumped out carrying sticks, struck the reporters and Abdullah repeatedly, then disappeared back into the vehicle.
Correspondent Matt Bradley was hit twice in the arm and walked to a nearby clinic. Abdullah was taken by the Red Crescent; her injuries were not life-threatening. Producer Lawahez Jabari, camera operator Khaldoon Eid, and a fourth crew member were also hurt. Jabari later recalled the speed of it: a car, men with sticks, a glimpse of a gun that was never raised, and then it was over.
The attack was not the only violence in the area that day. In the neighboring village of Qusra, Palestinian workers were pepper-sprayed by masked settlers. Israeli security forces reported rioters who had barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home while residents remained trapped within. Forces said they worked to remove the intruders, separated the groups, and confiscated vehicles believed to belong to the attackers.
The episode sits within a longer arc of escalation. Earlier in August, settlers had blocked supplies from reaching Palestinian homes on the village outskirts — a tactic that drew a formal rebuke from the U.S. ambassador. The United Nations has recorded 76 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank in the year ending late July, compared to three Israelis over the same period.
Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a statement calling the attacks 'criminal acts of violence' by 'a handful of rioters,' framing them as a stain on the law-abiding settler community and a hindrance to IDF operations. He did not address the structural conditions that critics — and the UN's own humanitarian office — say have allowed such violence to persist and compound.
On Saturday afternoon in the Palestinian town of Jalud, near Nablus, an NBC News team was documenting a story about forced displacement when four men in a car with Israeli license plates arrived and attacked them with sticks and rocks. The journalists had been interviewing Aida Abdullah, a 51-year-old Palestinian woman, and her family about settlers who had driven them from their home. As the group walked down a hill toward the house, the vehicle reversed up the slope. Men with covered faces jumped out, struck the reporters and Abdullah repeatedly, then fled back to the car.
Correspondent Matt Bradley was hit twice in the arm and walked to a nearby clinic for treatment. Abdullah was taken by the Red Crescent for medical care; her injuries were not life-threatening. Three other members of the crew—producer Lawahez Jabari, camera operator Khaldoon Eid, and a fourth journalist—were also injured and received treatment. Jabari recalled the speed of the assault. "Suddenly a car came to us," she said. "The settlers had sticks, I saw a gun, but they didn't use the gun." Eid noted that the team had not anticipated violence in a village setting.
The attack was one of several violent incidents reported in the area that day. Palestinian workers in the nearby village of Qusra were pepper-sprayed by masked Israeli settlers. Israeli security forces acknowledged receiving reports of "violent clashes," including stone-throwing directed at Palestinians and other civilians. In a statement, the forces said they had identified dozens of rioters who barricaded themselves inside a Palestinian home while residents remained trapped inside. Security personnel said they worked to remove the rioters and separate the groups to protect the residents, and confiscated vehicles suspected of being used by the Israeli attackers. IDF soldiers and Israel Border Police continued operations in both Qusra and Jalud to prevent further disturbances.
The incident occurred against a backdrop of escalating confrontations in the region. Earlier in August, settlers had blocked supplies from entering Palestinian houses on the outskirts of the village near Nablus, confining residents inside—a move that drew strong criticism from the U.S. ambassador. Israeli forces remain active in the area while settlers continue to move through the surrounding hills.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement condemning what he called "criminal acts of violence" committed by "a handful of rioters who violate the law." He characterized the attacks as causing "enormous injustice to the law-abiding settler public," hindering the IDF's operations, and damaging Israel's international standing. The statement stopped short of addressing broader patterns of settler violence in the West Bank. Netanyahu's government has faced persistent accusations of enabling or overlooking such attacks. According to the United Nations' office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, Israeli forces or settlers killed 76 Palestinians in the West Bank in the year ending July 24. Over the same period, three Israelis were killed.
Citazioni salienti
They jumped out, beat us, then jumped back in the car.— NBC News correspondent Matt Bradley
Netanyahu condemned the violence as criminal acts by 'a handful of rioters who violate the law,' saying the attacks hinder the IDF and harm Israel's standing.— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
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