Andrey Khrzhanovskiy and Jasper Nathaniel were released on 29 October after the attack near Umm Al-Khair. Nathaniel said a judge barred them from the West Bank for two months.
Israeli police detained Russian-Israeli journalist Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, known professionally as Andrey X, and US journalist Jasper Nathaniel after Israeli settlers attacked them near Umm Al-Khair in the occupied West Bank on 28 October 2026, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said. The journalists were released the next day.
Nathaniel said they were charged with assault and 5 other offenses. He said a judge barred both journalists from the West Bank for 2 months, kept his phone and brought no charges against the settlers who attacked them. The reported restriction prevents the journalists from reporting inside the West Bank during that period.
The incident followed Khrzhanovskiy’s brief detention the previous week while he was filming in Benyamin in the occupied West Bank. He was released after an investigation and said he faced a charge of supporting a terrorist organization, which he called unsubstantiated.
In its October 29 account, CPJ said videos and photographs showed settlers attacking Khrzhanovskiy. It said video and eyewitness accounts confirmed that police detained him and Nathaniel after arriving at the scene. Attorney Alon Sapir confirmed that both journalists were assaulted and that Khrzhanovskiy was struck on the head and needed medical attention. Khrzhanovskiy said he suffered a concussion.
Fellow freelance journalist Adele Shoko, whom CPJ said was also assaulted, said settlers beat Khrzhanovskiy until he repeatedly lost consciousness and stole his phone. She alleged that settlers blocked an ambulance from evacuating him and that the journalists were denied treatment for their injuries. CPJ also said the attackers pepper-sprayed Nathaniel and took Shoko’s eyeglasses.
The West Bank tally is the highest in monitoring dating to 2006. During 20–26 October, attacks targeted 49 Palestinian communities, mostly as people harvested olives.
CPJ said Israeli police had not responded by its publication deadline to its request for clarification about the legal grounds for the detention, the journalists' conditions and their whereabouts. CPJ regional director Sara Qudah said detaining attacked journalists without clearly disclosing the legal grounds, while they may still need medical care and their attackers are not held accountable, sends a dangerous message to those documenting settler violence.
CPJ said it documented an increase in the intensity of settler attacks on journalists in the West Bank in September 2026. It said it had reviewed at least 16 incidents in 2026 involving at least 35 local and international journalists, including physical attacks, harassment, obstruction and intimidation.
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