Video taking off 66x its usual first day

Caught in a West Bank attack, Post photographer Heidi Levine: "They took everything"

The Washington Post's 40-second clip follows her from the ground to a forced retreat down a dirt road.

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Washington Post Story of October 17, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 324,644 views a day, 66 times a normal first day on this channel (4,928).

Washington Post photographer attacked in West Bank

Heidi Levine is wearing a helmet and press gear when the footage finds her on the ground, surrounded by masked figures.

The Washington Post's Short, dated October 16 and opening with a graphic-content warning, begins with people running along a dusty path. "It's a journalist! It's a journalist!" Andrey Khrzhanovskiy shouts as he films from a distance. Jasper Nathaniel reaches Levine and pulls her to her feet. "They took everything," she says. "They took all my stuff!"

According to the Post's description, the attack began when masked Israeli settlers set olive groves on fire and threw rocks at Palestinian villagers. Levine, a photojournalist who has spent decades covering the region, says she was kicked again and again, around fifty times.

The clip does not end when she stands up. A masked group advances along the hillside behind her. Nathaniel tells her to run. She tells him she can't. He insists, and the final shots show everyone hurrying down the dirt road.

A Post Short usually draws a few thousand views on its first day. This one passed a quarter-million in 14 hours, and its comment section grew far faster than usual. Many commenters ask why the video's title does not say who carried out the attack.

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