Not AI: Video footage refutes ‘Israeli’ claims of doctored image of settler
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
Italian weekly magazine L'Espresso has ignited controversy with its April cover titled "L'Abuso" ("The Abuse"), featuring a photograph of an armed ‘Israeli’ settler in the West Bank taunting a distressed Palestinian woman.
The image, captured by photographer Pietro Masturzo near Hebron during the October 2025 olive harvest, prompted backlash from ‘Israeli’ officials and online commentators, who accused it of being misleading or AI-generated.
‘Israel's’ ambassador to Italy described the cover as manipulative and distorting reality.
In response, L'Espresso and Masturzo released video footage confirming the photograph's authenticity, refuting claims of artificial generation.
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In addition, social media footage shown above shows the settler in the West Bank village of Idhna (Idna) in the governorate of Hebron on October 12, where Palestinian families were harvesting olives.
Today I joined the olive harvest in Idna near hebron.
— Andromeda11711 (@Andromeda11711) October 15, 2025
It was cut short unfortunately due to constant harassment by armed erratic Settlers, who were protected by a heavily armed Army. The Palestinians are not armed.
This is private land owned by a Palestinian farmer trying to… pic.twitter.com/Bo2bngVzDp
At the time, when Palestinian families started the harvest, a group of armed ‘Israeli’ settlers wearing the military’s uniform harassed the locals, with the real ‘Israeli’ soldiers coming in later and preventing the families from picking olives.
