Israeli police arrested four settlers suspected of blocking a CNN crew’s vehicle and damaging it near the village of Sinjil in Binyamin, after journalists reported being attacked while attempting to leave the area.
CNN reporters said the suspects blocked their vehicles and confronted the journalists with wooden and metal rods, stones, and a knife. According to the network, the settlers attempted to puncture the tires of CNN’s vehicle and smashed the windshield of another vehicle carrying journalists.
The CNN crew contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and troops arrived at the scene and detained the four suspects until Border Police and police officers reached the area.
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
Police said officers arrested the suspects a short while later, seized their vehicle and took testimony from members of the media crew.
CNN said its journalists 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.
CNN also reported that settlers attempted to block a separate exit route and pursued journalists toward Sinjil.
“The Israel Police and the (Israel Defense Forces) view any manifestation of violence or causing damage to property very seriously, especially when it concerns media personnel performing their work,” police said in a statement.
