CNN crew attacked by Israeli settlers on West Bank anniversary

Israeli police arrested four settlers on July 11, 2026, after they attacked a CNN crew and other journalists near Sinjil in the occupied West Bank. The CNN team was reporting on the one-year anniversary of Palestinian-American Saif Musallet's beating death when settlers blocked vehicles with rods, stones, and a knife. Authorities seized clubs and a knife from the suspects' vehicle after Israeli soldiers secured the journalists' passage.

Key Takeaways

• Four settlers were arrested after blocking and attacking CNN and other journalists near Sinjil, north of Ramallah, on Saturday, July 11, 2026.
• Attackers wielded wooden and metal rods, stones, and a knife; one tried to puncture CNN's tires and another vehicle's windshield was smashed.
• Journalists had arrived minutes earlier to mark the anniversary of Saif Musallet's deadly beating; his father told CNN no arrests had followed that killing.
• Israeli soldiers from the Samaria Brigade secured the journalists' exit before police collected witness statements and seized weapons from the suspects' car.
• The incident comes days after U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna said armed settlers detained him during a West Bank visit.

What happened to the CNN crew near Sinjil?

According to CNN, its team and other journalists were near Sinjil, north of Ramallah, when Israeli settlers descended on the area within minutes of their arrival. As the crews tried to leave, a group of four settlers blocked the road with their car.

The settlers wielded wooden and metal rods and stones. One brandished a knife and tried to puncture the tires of CNN's vehicle. They then jumped on a second vehicle carrying journalists behind CNN's team and smashed its windshield.

Another group of settlers tried to block a separate exit route before chasing the journalists toward the town of Sinjil, according to CNN's reporting.

Why were journalists at the West Bank site on July 11?

The journalists were covering the one-year anniversary of the killing of Saif Musallet, a Palestinian-American who was beaten to death by Jewish settlers in July 2025 at the same location.

After Musallet's death, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called it a "criminal and terrorist act" and urged authorities to investigate. Musallet's father told CNN that no one had been arrested since the killing, according to the network's report.

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What did Israeli police and soldiers do after the attack?

Israeli Police said officers and Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrived at the scene and arrested four suspects. IDF forces from the Samaria Brigade secured the journalists' passage and detained the four individuals believed to be involved, according to police statements reported by The Jerusalem Post.

Police collected witness statements from the journalists, located and seized the suspects' vehicle, and recovered clubs and a knife during a search. 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 said.

How does this fit the wider pattern of settler violence?

The attack on journalists came just days after U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna said he was detained by armed Israeli settlers during a visit to the West Bank earlier in the week.

That incident occurred near the village of Turmus Ayya, which has a population of thousands of Palestinian-Americans who have come under repeated attack by settlers in the area, CNN reported.

Quick arrests followed this weekend's assault on the media crews—a contrast Musallet's family highlighted after his 2025 killing drew condemnation but, they said, no charges.