4 settlers detained for alleged attack on CNN crew in West Bank town of Sinjil

Four Israeli settlers were detained for allegedly attacking a CNN media crew near the West Bank town of Sinjil on Saturday, in the latest attack on journalists in the territory.

Israel Police said that they received a report of several journalists who were driving near Sinjil when several suspects blocked their car and “caused damage.”

According to CNN, reporters were in the area to visit the site where 20-year-old Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet was allegedly beaten to death by settlers on the one-year anniversary of his death.

The network said the four settlers wielded rods and stones, with one trying to burst the tires of CNN’s vehicle with a knife. The settlers smashed the windshield of another vehicle trailing them that was also carrying journalists, tried to block an exit route and chased the media teams toward Sinjil.

Israeli soldiers dispatched to the scene enabled the journalists to pass and apprehended four suspects, police said.

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Officers reached the area a short while later and arrested the four suspects, while seizing their vehicle and taking testimony from the media crew, according to police.

Israeli settlers armed with clubs, rocks and a knife blocked our way and attacked us & another group of journalists today in the occupied West Bank.

At the same location where settlers beat US citizen Saif Musallet to death, exactly one year ago today.

Our full report will air on… pic.twitter.com/EyvG15AsSo

— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) July 11, 2026

“During a search of the vehicle, clubs and a knife were seized,” police said.

The four suspects were taken for questioning.

“The Israel Police and the IDF view with severity any act of violence or damage to property, particularly when it involves members of the media carrying out their work,” police added.

مستوطنون يطاردون الطواقم الصحفية في منطقة التل والباطن جنوب بلدة سنجل شمال رام الله pic.twitter.com/oDxhlxxvCg

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) July 11, 2026

Reporters have become increasingly targeted by extremist settlers while working in the West Bank.

Earlier this year, CNN’s Jeremy Diamond, who was also part of the crew attacked on Saturday, said a soldier put his cameraman in a chokehold as troops tried to prevent them from filming at an illegal West Bank outpost. Soldiers were caught on camera saying the entire West Bank belongs to Jews and that they were avenging the killing of a settler days earlier.

Also on Saturday, Palestinian media reported that several people were wounded by gunfire and riot control means by the Israeli army amid a settler attack on the West Bank village of Mughayyir.

The Wafa news agency reported that settlers and Israeli troops attacked a home in the village, during which a man was shot in the thigh, two others were hit by rubber bullets, and a child was wounded by a stun grenade.

One person was also detained by the IDF, the report added.

The IDF said troops were dispatched to Mughayyir following a report of a “confrontation” between Palestinians and Israelis.

“During the confrontation, Palestinians threw stones at the Israelis, and the forces acted to disperse the gathering,” the military said.

The IDF said troops spotted stones being thrown from a home in the village, and the forces then entered the building to apprehend suspects.

“Later, a violent riot broke out at another location in the village, during which masked Palestinians hurled stones at the forces using slings,” the IDF said.

The army said troops opened fire at one suspect “to remove the threat.”

مشاهد توثق محاولة جنود الاحتلال الإسرائيلي ومستوطنين اقتحام منزل عائلة أبو عطا في قرية المغير شرقي #رام_الله pic.twitter.com/w6DARsoLe5

— الجزيرة مباشر (@ajmubasher) July 11, 2026

Israel has come under fire for rarely carrying out arrests in instances of settler violence, with indictments and convictions even more infrequent.

Shin Bet figures from earlier this year found that three times more Palestinians were victims of terror attacks in the West Bank than Jews.

Attacks regularly take place on Friday nights and Saturdays, during the Jewish sabbath rest day, even though many of the alleged perpetrators are religious.