Israeli settlers attack more Palestinians as olive harvest violence surges

Israeli settlers have attacked several Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank, as a wave of violence targeting residents harvesting their olive trees intensifies.

At least three Palestinians were injured on Saturday after settlers attacked farmers in the village of Deir Nidham, northwest of Ramallah, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Mujahid Tamimi, a local resident and activist, was quoted by Wafa as saying settlers assaulted the farmers near the village’s western entrance, beating them with rifle butts and forcing them to leave their land.

Tamimi added that Israeli forces later entered the village to provide protection for the settlers and detained 31-year-old resident Motasem Abdullah Tamimi.

The attacks come as Palestinians across the West Bank have experienced a surge in Israeli military and settler violence in the shadow of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which began in October 2023.

Since then, Israeli settler and military attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 10,000 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

But this year’s olive harvest season, which typically begins in early October, has brought a new, intensified wave of violence.

media’s Nour Odeh noted that the settler attacks “usually happen in the company and protection of Israeli soldiers who sometimes participate in them”.

“The settlers are armed, dangerous and many of them serve in the army – and that is exactly why human rights organisations accuse the Israeli army of complicity,” said Odeh, adding that the settlers are “emboldened” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

“The attacks are intended to drive Palestinians out of their homes, to create an environment where staying in one’s town is simply untenable and unsafe,” she reported.

Harvesting olive trees is a key economic activity for many Palestinians, and it holds significant cultural importance in Palestinian society.

Between 80,000 to 100,000 families rely on olives and olive oil as their primary or secondary sources of income, according to United Nations figures.

Since the start of this year’s season, the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported a total of 158 attacks against olive pickers.

Seventeen were carried out by the Israeli army and 141 by settlers, who enjoy what human rights groups have described as total impunity for acts of violence against Palestinians.

For the second consecutive week, Israeli forces have also prevented farmers from accessing their lands across the West Bank.

On Saturday, settlers sprayed pepper gas at Palestinian farmers in Kafr Malek, east of Ramallah, injuring several people.

In a separate incident in the village of Nahalin, near Bethlehem, a settler and three Israeli soldiers beat 65-year-old Ahmad Shakarna while he was harvesting olives with his family.

In Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron, Israeli forces fired tear gas and sound bombs at farmers attempting to reach their lands in the al-Baqa’a area, dispersing them.

Meanwhile, in the villages of Aqraba and Qabalan south of Nablus, armed settlers, accompanied by attack dogs, beat farmers and confiscated their tools. Three Palestinians were injured in those attacks before being forced off their land.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 250 settlements and settlement outposts – considered illegal under international law – across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

They have targeted Palestinian property more than 2,400 times in the last two years, displacing at least 3,055 people, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.