In mid-April 2026, Italian magazine L'Espresso released the cover of its latest issue online, featuring a photograph of an Israeli man filming and apparently harassing a Palestinian woman and the headline "L'Abuso," which means "the abuse" or "the violation," referring to the illegal annexation of the West Bank by Israeli settlers.
Some people questioned the photo's authenticity on social media. Israel's ambassador to Italy, Jonathan Peled, claimed on X that the image was "manipulated":
We strongly condemn the manipulated use of the recent cover of L'Espresso. The image twists the complex reality with which Israel must coexist, promoting stereotypes and hate. Responsible journalism must be balanced and correct.
When an Israeli reporter asked whether the image was AI-generated, the ambassador wrote (archived), "Hard to prove."
Rabbi Elchanan Poupko alleged (archived) that elements of the image didn't make sense, including the Israeli man's smile and wedding ring:
Italy's magazine @espressonline publishing Antisemitic Der Strumer worthy imagery should clarify where they got this image from.
The military vest worn here is no longer in use by the IDF, the wedding ring and bracelet are never worn by ultra Orthodox men, the formation of the beard and Kippah are outlandish, and of course the very bizarre smile/showing teeth are unnatural.
(X user @RabbiPoupko)
The photograph on the magazine's cover was indeed authentic, despite the claims. There was no evidence it was generated by artificial intelligence or digitally manipulated. We looked at other photographs from the incident in question and found multiple news photographers had published images and footage of those people from different angles. The photographer who took the photo in question, Pietro Masturzo, also shared video footage of the man and the woman. As such, we rate this claim as true.
We reached out to Masturzo to learn more details about the photograph. He confirmed to us over email that the man in the image was a settler wearing a military uniform. He wrote, "That is not an official army uniform, first of all because it does not have the insignia that indicate the corps or department to which the soldier belongs." He added that the Israelis in the footage and photographs were a mixture of approximately 12 settlers and soldiers.
The image was taken in October 2025, and there are many publicly available photographs documenting the same incident. In one photo taken by Hazem Bader, and published by AFP, the same Israeli settler with the cellphone is visible. The photo caption states "Israeli soldiers and settlers prevent Palestinian villagers from accessing their olive harvest in Hebron, occupied West Bank, on 12 October."
A freelance Palestinian photographer, Mosab Shawer, took several photos of the incident, including one showing the same woman in the headscarf, holding a stick, with another settler wearing a black tank top in the background. Shawer also photographed the settler from the magazine cover holding a finger to his lips and on his phone. The caption states:
OCT 12: Israeli Settlers attack Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest in the village of Idhna, west of Hebron, West Bank, under the protection of Israeli colonial forces, who expelled Palestinians from their lands, confiscated farming equipment, and arrested a photojournalist.
The settler in the black tank top also is in the background of the AFP photograph featuring the man in the magazine cover photo. Another AFP photo by Shawer shows both settlers with the caption:
An armed Israeli settler films journalists during a confrontation near the village of Idhna, west of Hebron, on October 12, 2025. Settlers attacked farmers during the harvest as Israeli forces expelled Palestinians from their lands and confiscated their equipment.
Masturzo and L'Espresso uploaded a video of the 2025 interaction on their Instagram pages denying that the photograph was AI-generated. The video shows the man shushing the Palestinian woman, who appears to resist and tell him to go away. The video caption states (translated by Snopes):
People have been asking me if this photo was generated with AI, and others have sent me posts claiming that this photo was generated with AI. Well no, the photo in question is not a product of Artificial Intelligence!
I took this photo in the Palestinian village of Idhna (to the west of Hebron) last October 12, on the first day of the olive harvest. It should have been a day of celebration. Other than the landowners and other various Palestinian families who came to help with the harvest, the local Palestinian authorities, a group of international activists and various Palestinian and international journalists, including The New York Times, were present.
Precisely at the beginning of the harvest, a group of armed Israeli colonists/settlers (some of whom were wearing the Army's uniform, like the colonist/settler in question), accompanied by real soldiers (with their faces covered), stopped the Palestinians from harvesting their own olives. The expression of the portrayed settler/colonist is the result of the gesture repeated by him, mimicking the call that a shepherd makes to gather his flock, addressing the Palestinians as if they were his beasts.
I hope that this video, recorded by my colleagues, suffices to make the context more clear.
Masturzo told Snopes over email that the Israeli settler "was harassing and humiliating those present by making the sound of a shepherd gathering his flock, at the same time he was intimidating all those present (especially the girl in the picture, who was peacefully protesting against him) by filming them with his phone, trying in particular to show the faces."
Masturzo added that the settler was directing the shepherd's call to the Palestinian landowners, international activists and other Palestinians who had joined the harvest.
For further reading, Snopes previously reported on an image showing an Israeli lawmaker holding a noose and dressed up as the "Death Penalty for Terrorists Law," which mandates death by hanging as the default punishment for Palestinians convicted of fatal attacks.