Israeli settlers were filmed on Tuesday attacking a group of left-wing activists and journalists in front of IDF soldiers in the southern West Bank before being allowed to flee the area without a single arrest being made.

The activists from several Israeli rights groups were in the Bethlehem-area Palestinian village of Jannatah to help residents put up a fence around several homes on the outskirts of the town that has come under repeated attack by settlers.

Also on site were a group of journalists from the French AFP news agency who were working on a story about Israeli activists conducting such solidarity visits to Palestinian villages facing settler violence.

But shortly after their arrival, the activists and journalists were surrounded by masked settlers, who struck them with clubs, hurled stones at them and pepper-sprayed them.

The settlers, many of them children, threw stones toward the journalists and activists. One AFP journalist ducked a stone, but then a child settler struck him in the chin with a stick, causing minor bleeding, he said.

Footage showed soldiers attempting to break up the altercation with little success. Jewish ritual fringes, known as tzitzit, are seen peeking out from underneath the shirts of the masked attackers.

Jannata: Jewish terrorists are attacking our activists. Terrorists sprayed them with pepper spray, beat a 70-year-old activist, smashed the windows of four vehicles, and slashed their tires. Soldiers stood by and watched. The police arrived only hours after the attack had ended. pic.twitter.com/zeQjjpEiWL — Rabbis for Human Rights (@rabbis4HR) August 25, 2026

Jannata: Jewish terrorists are attacking our activists. Terrorists sprayed them with pepper spray, beat a 70-year-old activist, smashed the windows of four vehicles, and slashed their tires. Soldiers stood by and watched. The police arrived only hours after the attack had ended. pic.twitter.com/zeQjjpEiWL

— Rabbis for Human Rights (@rabbis4HR) August 25, 2026

According to Rabbis for Human Rights, the “Jewish terrorists” pepper-sprayed the activists, beat a 70-year-old activist, and smashed the windows and slashed the tires of four cars.

Five people were treated for injuries, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said, with AFP journalists reporting seeing at least one Israeli........

© The Times of Israel