Four settlers were arrested in an attack on CNN and other journalists in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, Israeli police said.
The journalists were near the village of Sinjir, north of Ramallah, last July to cover the first anniversary of the murder of Saif Mussaret, a Palestinian American who was beaten to death by Jewish settlers.
Within minutes of arriving at the spot where Musalet was killed, Israeli settlers descended on the area. As the CNN team and other journalists tried to leave, a group of four settlers blocked the road with their cars and tried to stop the vehicles from proceeding.
The four settlers were brandishing wooden and metal rods and stones. One of the settlers brandished a knife and tried to puncture the tires of CNN’s vehicle.
The settlers then began jumping onto a vehicle carrying another group of journalists behind CNN, breaking the vehicle’s windshield. Another group of settlers attempted to block another exit route before chasing the journalists towards the town of Sinjir.
When police and Israeli soldiers arrived at the scene, they arrested four suspects before spotting the suspect’s vehicle nearby, police said. They seized a club and a knife from inside the vehicle, police said.
“The Israeli Police and the (Israel Defense Forces) take a very serious view of any outbreak of violence or damage to property, especially regarding the performance of members of the media,” police said in a statement.
After Musallet’s murder in July 2025, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called it a “criminal and terrorist act” and called on authorities to investigate. But Musallet’s father told CNN that no one has been arrested since the killing.
Ro Khanna talks about being detained by Israeli settlers during a visit to the West Bank
The attack on the journalist came days after US Congressman Ro Khanna was detained by settlers near the West Bank village of Turmus Aya. The village is home to several thousand Palestinian Americans and has been repeatedly attacked by settlers in the area.
Khanna visited the village to show solidarity with Americans who told CNN they felt forgotten by their government.
“I saw the arrogance in the eyes of the 21- and 22-year-old settlers with guns, laughing that they were detaining us, and seeing the arrogance of the young IDF soldiers that my tax dollars were funding them. They didn’t respect the fact that they were detaining Americans, they didn’t respect the fact that there were American congressmen on that bus, and they laughed when the interpreter told them there were Americans there and the American embassy was concerned,” Khanna said. Reuters.
Dana Bash pressures Netanyahu on ongoing settler violence in the West Bank
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on Tuesday that the problem of settler violence is “incredibly exploding.” He described the perpetrators as a group of 150 “juvenile delinquents.” He said the police and military were “taking action” but that Israeli courts were “very lenient” towards people convicted of settler violence.
Despite Prime Minister Netanyahu’s statements, the West Bank has seen a surge in settler violence as the Israeli government rapidly expands settlements across the territory, in some cases with Israeli soldiers standing idly by.
