Journalists among the dozens of Palestinians wounded amid escalation in Israeli violence during olive harvest season.
At least 36 people, including journalists, were injured in attacks by Israeli military forces and illegal settlers in towns near Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a statement on Friday, the ministry said two people were wounded by live fire, while many others were injured as a result of beatings and physical assaults.
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The attacks by illegal settlers and Israeli soldiers took place in the towns of Beita, Huwara, and Deir Sharaf in the Nablus governorate .
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, illegal settlers attacked Palestinian farmers while they were harvesting olives in the Jabal Qamas area of Beita, beating them and setting fire to three vehicles, one of which belonged to AFP photographer Jaafar Ishtayeh.
“In my 30-year career, this is the first time I have faced violence of this kind,” Ishtayeh said. “If I hadn’t managed to escape, they would have killed me.”
Shortly after midday (09:00 GMT), two groups of Israeli settlers armed with sticks and stones – numbering around 70 people in total – attacked the olive pickers and journalists at the scene.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it treated seven people who were injured, including journalists Ishtayeh and Wahaj Bani Moufleh.
Two other journalists, Yazan Hamayel and Sujja al-Alami, suffered from tear gas inhalation, Wafa said.
Israeli soldiers also raided the area, firing stun grenades and tear gas at the residents, causing several cases of suffocation.
Violence escalates during olive harvests
Hit by several stones in the back, arm and hand, photographer Ishtayeh was discharged from hospital in the afternoon and is suffering from bruising, AFP said.
His car, along with a handful of others parked at a safe distance from the field, was stoned and then set on fire.
Ishtayeh said Israeli soldiers who were present before the attack did nothing to stop the settlers from advancing.
Israeli forces stormed Nablus earlier in the day as well, arresting resident Sidqi al-Aghbar after searching his home.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces also raided the nearby city Tubas.
Local sources told Wafa that Israeli forces stormed the city with several military vehicles from the Tayasir military checkpoint. Soldiers were also deployed in more than one location and pursued a young man.
In the el-Bireh governorate in the central West Bank, Israeli forces arrested six Palestinians while they were collecting olives in the village of Kafr Nima, west of Ramallah. The arrests took place after settlers assaulted them in the area.
These attacks by settlers often escalate during the olive harvest season, a vital time of year that provides a key source of livelihood for many Palestinian families.
Ishtayeh said he had been covering the olive harvest in the village of Beita, particularly looking at the work of Israeli and foreign peace activists who had come to support residents in the face of repeated settler attacks during the harvest season.
More than 700,000 settlers live in 150 settlements and 128 outposts – both illegal under international law – dotting the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Settlers are often armed and frequently accompanied or protected by Israeli soldiers. In addition to destroying Palestinian property, they have carried out arson attacks and killed Palestinian residents.
According to official Palestinian figures, more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers and Israeli army soldiers, and over 20,000 have been arrested, since the genocide in Gaza began two years ago.
There were about 1,800 settler attacks across the occupied West Bank between October 7, 2023, and December 16, 2024, according to data collected by Tech for Palestine, a collective of tech volunteers that monitors rights abuses.
