American photojournalist Heidi Levine has pledged to continue documenting the experiences of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank despite sustaining serious injuries in an assault she says was carried out by Israeli settlers.

Levine, a veteran correspondent for The Washington Post, made the commitment during an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday, a day after she was discharged from hospital while recovering from the attack.

She was covering the annual olive harvest when settlers allegedly attacked her and a group of Palestinians and journalists. According to her account, the assailants knocked her down, repeatedly beat her with sticks and attempted to strip her of her belongings, including camera equipment and personal documents.

Levine said the experience had given her a deeper understanding of the violence endured by Palestinian communities, noting that her nationality and international media affiliation had brought attention to her case that many local victims might not receive.

She also disputed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s suggestion that footage of the incident appeared to show an attacker helping her to her feet. Levine said the men lifted her only because they were struggling to remove her belongings, adding that one of them also tore off a gold necklace given to her by her daughter.

The assault left her with a broken rib, a fractured vertebra and a serious finger injury that required surgery. Fellow journalists and Palestinians eventually helped her escape as the attackers continued throwing stones at the fleeing group.

The incident has drawn international condemnation, with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the White House among those denouncing the violence. Israeli police subsequently arrested at least 10 suspects in connection with the attack on Levine and a separate incident involving European diplomats visiting the Palestinian town of Taybeh.

The assault occurred amid heightened violence during the olive harvest, a vital source of income for many Palestinian families. Israeli rights organisation Yesh Din reported documenting more than 530 incidents involving settler and soldier violence since the harvest began on September 27, including attacks on people, theft of agricultural produce and destruction of olive trees.

Levine, who has covered the Middle East for more than four decades, said she had never witnessed conditions in the region at their current level of severity. She also expressed concern over the rhetoric of Israeli political leaders and the authorities’ handling of settler violence.

Despite the ordeal, she said the experience had reinforced her determination to continue reporting on the lives and struggles of Palestinians.