Israeli settlers continue their program amid the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank

At least two people, including a Washington Post journalist, were injured in the attack by settlers armed with clubs and guns.

Masked settlers attacked Palestinians and set fire to olive trees in the occupied West Bank, as Israeli killings continued in the land.

Approximately 80 masked settlers armed with clubs attacked Palestinians in Abu Falah village while they were picking fruit. The crop, which provides an economic lifeline to the territory, has become a constant target for Israelis from illegal settlements, which have escalated violence amid government encouragement of settlement expansion.

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End of List As the settlers confronted them, some of them using slingshots, the Palestinians responded by throwing stones. Israeli military jeeps quickly entered the area, but the attack continued and soldiers fired tear gas at the Palestinians.

Jasper Nathaniel, a freelance journalist on the ground, told Al Jazeera that more settlers arrived, armed with machine guns.

Describing the violence in the West Bank as "at or near an all-time high," Nathaniel said that when the settlers started shooting, everyone ran, at which point Washington Post reporter Heidi Levin fell to the ground.

"We saw that there was a reporter... on the ground [with] people beating him, clubbing him, robbing him. They pulled him up, beat him again and kicked him."

Levin later said he "probably wouldn't even be here" if it weren't for his hat and jacket.

The attack is fueling frequent massacres by settlers as the Israeli government continues to expand its illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

Last month, Amnesty International announced that Israel had signed at least 15 land confiscation orders covering about 200 dunums (20 hectares) of Palestinian land in Jenin, in the northern West Bank. The human rights group said Israel appeared to be planning to connect two planned settlements in the area.

The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED), an independent conflict monitoring organization, recently announced that settler violence in the West Bank has reached unprecedented levels.

Israel's growing violence and expansionist policies have come under intense scrutiny in recent months, with allies including Britain and France announcing sanctions on purchases of goods from illegal settlements.

This change in policy represents a dramatic shift in the stance of Western countries, which previously refrained from verbally criticizing Israel's actions.