Jeremy Diamond said he and his team were assaulted by Israeli settlers while on their way to visit the family of a Palestinian-American killed last week. “This is just a sliver of the reality many Palestinians face in the West Bank amid rising settler violence.,” he wrote on the X social media platform.
CNN’s Jerusalem-based correspondent Jeremy Diamond was attacked over the weekend by Israeli settlers near Ramallah. “As we were covering this story, my team and I were attacked by Israeli settlers,” Diamond posted Tuesday on social media platform X. “The back window of our vehicle was smashed, but we managed to escape unharmed. This is just a sliver of the reality many Palestinians face in the West Bank amid rising settler violence.”
According to a report by Deadline, Diamond and his crew had been on their way to the West Bank village of Sinjil to meet with the family of Saif al-Din Musallat, a Palestinian-American who was killed during clashes with settlers several days earlier.
The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Israel also issued a statement condemning the assault, noting it was the second such incident in Sinjil this month. “On July 4, a Deutsche Welle crew was attacked in the same village. Their car window was shattered by stones and the engine disabled,” the FPA said.
The association added that, in both incidents, settlers attacked in broad daylight, and no arrests have been reported. “These attacks come at a time when our Palestinian colleagues are facing increasing threats and violence from both settlers and Israeli security forces, while foreign media are frequently maligned by public figures in Israel.”
In a separate statement cited by Deadline, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) warned of a rise in violence against both Palestinian and international journalists in the West Bank and also accused Israeli soldiers of abuse. The IFJ said that journalist Issam Rimawi was attacked and beaten unconscious by settlers in a village north of Ramallah.
The IFJ further reported that, in late May, soldiers fired warning shots near a vehicle carrying French journalist Amira Souilem of France 24 and Palestinian journalist Mohammad Mansour. Days later, masked soldiers allegedly prevented a group of journalists from various outlets from visiting several West Bank villages. The reporters had been invited by Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, the filmmakers behind the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land."
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On Friday, the Israeli military acknowledged the fatal incident involving Musallat and said several other Palestinians were injured during what it called a “violent confrontation.” According to the IDF, forces from the military, Border Police, and Judea and Samaria District Police were dispatched to the scene to break up the clashes. “The forces used riot control measures, and the rioters dispersed,” the military said.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa claimed that dozens of settlers had attacked local residents and foreign volunteers attempting to dismantle an illegal outpost, resulting in several injuries. The report also alleged that another person was run over by a settler and that settlers vandalized ambulances.
According to AFP, violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians erupted in Sinjil last week as well.
A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Ynet that “ensuring the safety of U.S. citizens overseas is a top priority” and confirmed that consular support was being provided to Musallat’s family. However, the spokesperson declined to comment on the details of the incident “out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time.”
In the days following the incident, Musallat’s family called for an investigation. They contacted the U.S. State Department directly, stating that Musallat was born and lived in Florida and had only been visiting the West Bank.