By Assiah Hamed

 

ISREALI OCCUPIED WEST BANK, 01 Nov. - (ANA) - Russian activist Adele Shoko has warned that a ban preventing her and fellow campaigner Andrey X and US journalist Jasper Nathaniel from reporting in the occupied West Bank raises serious concerns over press freedom and the documentation of abuses against Palestinians. 

 

The restrictions were imposed by Israeli authorities following an attack by armed settlers on Shoko, Andrey X and Nathaniel in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday. 

 

Organisations such as Peace Now have repeatedly raised concerns about the safety of residents in Umm al-Khair, a Palestinian community in the southern occupied West Bank surrounded by Israeli settlements and military bases.

 

They have warned that residents face settler violence and harassment, while accusing Israeli authorities of failing to provide even basic protection and allowing such actions to continue.

 

Speaking to The New Arab on Saturday, Shoko said the trio had been beaten and verbally threatened by settlers, including Tomer Liani, an Israeli settler from the Havat Maon outpost.  

 

She also said that equipment and personal belongings were stolen during the attack, which she documented on social media. 

 

Following a court hearing attended by Andrey X and Nathaniel, both of whom had been arrested and accused by Israeli forces of assaulting the settlers, Shoko said the activists had been barred from entering the West Bank for two months. 

 

She warned that the restrictions could significantly affect their ability to document abuses against Palestinians. 

 

"[Liani] basically almost killed Andrey, threatened to shoot him multiple times," Shoko told The New Arab. "He injured me and I still have an injury. I can't use my left hand. He stole my phone, he stole my glasses, and I was basically blind throughout the attack." 

 

She continued: "So all of that happened and the settler wasn't punished. But for some reason we were punished and now we can't do our work." 

 

Shoko said she and her colleagues remained uncertain about what would happen next, despite Andrey X and Nathaniel reportedly having been cleared of all charges following their brief detention. 

 

"I want to say that we still don't know what will happen to us because not only we were banned, but also we have another interrogation [on Sunday]. We're still being interrogated," she told The New Arab. 

 

Shoko believes the visibility she and her colleagues have gained through their social media reporting on escalating settler violence since the start of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has made them targets for Israeli authorities.

 

She warned that restrictions on their ability to enter the West Bank and report on Palestinian communities could have wider consequences. 

 

"We genuinely believe that Israel is after us, and I'll explain why," she said. "Andrey was arrested before that, and it was also very widely reported incident where Israel brought 12 soldiers and seven police officers to arrest one person." 

 

Shoko added: "If not for the amount of attention that the world is giving to us and what is happening to us, we would be in Israeli jail." 

 

She argued that international attention had helped protect them from further targeting, saying: "The reason why they don't want to do this to us, because there will be protests around the world. Because people right now are getting information about the occupation from us, and they know that we're in essential to this fight." 

 

But Shoko stressed that Palestinian journalists continue to face threats and detention for documenting abuses in the occupied West Bank. 

 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned attacks against Palestinian and foreign journalists in the territory, including incidents involving Israeli settlers during the olive harvest season. 

 

"It's getting scary to do our work, especially during the olive harvest, because it's becoming a big problem that we are showing this escalation of violence that was happening before the [Israeli] elections and actually continues to happen," Shoko told The New Arab. 

 

"There are multiple job Palestinian journalists who are in jail right now on administrative detention," she said. 

 

She continued: "And administrative detention means that they don't have any charges and they can [detain] them for as long as they want." 

 

"And we need to put pressure on that. I have also at least three friends that were targeted by [Israeli forces] in the past month and were also taken away and their houses were raided." 

 

With the future of her reporting work uncertain following Wednesday's attack, Shoko urged the international community to maintain its attention on the occupied West Bank. 

 

She said she hoped to return to what she considers an essential part of her work as an activist: documenting abuses and standing alongside Palestinian communities. 

 

She insisted that the focus should remain on the Palestinians affected by settler violence, rather than solely on the activists who were attacked. 

 

"What happened in Umm al-Khair isn't just about us. It's way more about what Palestinians in this village is where it happened and going through," Shoko said.

 

"The settler violence and what Palestinians in this village are going through such control over their freedom and their basic rights is what we should talk about." 

 

Shoko added that greater international solidarity on the ground could provide both protection and reassurance to Palestinian communities. 

 

"Palestinians will be happy to see more people on the ground who will stand with them," she told The New Arab.

 

"This solidarity is not only a protective presence because we are staying with communities and using our privilege to stand between the occupation and Palestinian citizens. But it also gives them hope." - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/01 November 2026 - - -