An NBC News crew was attacked on camera by Israeli settlers while conducting an interview in the West Bank on Saturday, leaving the Palestinian woman they were speaking with unconscious and sending the entire team to seek medical treatment.
Foreign correspondent Matt Bradley appeared on Sunday's episode of Today to describe what happened. He and his crew had been interviewing Aida Ahmed Abdullah, an elderly Palestinian woman whose home has been occupied by Israeli settlers, when a group of masked men in a car with Israeli license plates descended on them carrying sticks and stones. One of the attackers could be seen on video swinging a stick at the cameraman before the camera fell to the ground.
"They smashed our car windshield, hit our crew with clubs and beat Aida unconscious," Bradley said. "We were able to get her to an ambulance, and our team was treated for minor injuries."
Bradley told host Willie Geist that the team was recovering. "I'm safe, I am recovering," he said. "I got hit twice on the arm. Actually, every member of my team, including a producer, the cameraman and one of the drivers we were with, they all took hits. But we're all recovering well."
Abdullah was released from the hospital and is also recovering, though her home remains occupied by settlers.
Bradley cited United Nations figures showing that a recent surge of Israeli settler violence in the West Bank has resulted in the killings of 76 Palestinians this year, including 18 children.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee both condemned the attackers, whom they described as "Israeli terrorists." Israel's military and border police have opened an investigation into the incident.
