IOF, settlers attack, expel olive harvesters from lands in West Bank

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Nov 2023 15:10
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Israeli occupation forces, along with settlers, attack Palestinians engaged in harvesting their olive crops, forcing them out of their lands.

Israeli settlers attacking Palestinian farmers harvesting their olive crops (WAFA)

Israeli occupation forces, along with settlers, attacked Palestinians engaged in harvesting their olive crops, forcing them out of their ancestors' lands, possibly for good, due to mounting assaults and intensifying settler violence.

In the village of Burin in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, situated south of Nablus, settlers, accompanied by Israeli occupation forces, assaulted Palestinian farmers harvesting olives. The attackers confiscated both the harvested crops and the tools used for the harvesting, according to local sources.

In the village of al-Sawiyeh, south of Nablus, IOF compelled olive pickers to cease their harvest and evacuate their lands, according to Mahmoud Hassan, the head of the village council. Hassan stated that the IOF deployed tear gas canisters in the eastern part of the village, hindering the landowners from continuing their work and forcing them to leave.

On the left side of the picture is Bilal Saleh, a Palestinian farmer. This morning, he was picking olives in his land in the village of Sawiya, north of the occupied West Bank, a few minutes before Israeli terror settler militias raided his land and shot him dead in cold blood. pic.twitter.com/SpM7huQIM8
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 28, 2023

In the southern West Bank villages of Kisan and Nahalin, the IOF stormed the areas and prevented farmers from harvesting their olive crops, according to Hasan Breijieh from the Wall and Colonies Resistance Commission.

Earlier, soldiers conducted a raid north of Nahalin, firing shots to intimidate farmers and force them out of their lands, threatening them not to return. In Kisan, soldiers obstructed landowners from harvesting olives on their lands near illegal settlements.

A 'new Nakba' is ongoing in West Bank alongside a genocide in Gaza

As the Israeli genocide in Gaza is ongoing, it might seem inappropriate to shift focus to the relatively smaller but troubling settlers' violence and IOF's terrorism in the occupied West Bank. However, it would be a mistake to underestimate the dangers posed by the recent surge in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

This seems to be a strategic calculation made by "Israel" to expand its illegal settlements and steal more Palestinian land. Reports indicate a notable increase in the number of Palestinians forcibly displaced or killed since Oct. 7. The occupation seems to be fully aware that the diverting global and Israeli attention from the West Bank provides cover for more land usurpation in the area.

At the beginning of this month, the 150 residents of Khirbet Zanuta have been forcibly displaced once again. Armed settlers, some of whom were dressed in reserve army uniforms and others concealing their identities, have started to break into their homes during the night, assaulting adults, vandalizing and looting possessions, and traumatizing their children.

At the time, men and women were in tears as they were forced to disassemble their homes on Monday, hastily loading solar panels, animal feed, and personal items onto pickup trucks. The sounds of the demolitions by Israeli bulldozers filled the air, and the resulting dust and debris shook them to the core.

It is worth noting that the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank alone since October 7 has reached 178 including at least 44 children, as per Palestinian authorities.

Concurrently, the Palestinian Prisoners Society NGO has lately reported that Israeli occupation forces have arrested nearly 2,500 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7.

800 West Bank Palestinians have been captured, tortured and locked up with no charge. 100 have been shot dead with the free firearms and there is no Justice for the dead either. pic.twitter.com/h1aeQ22tq0
— Hend F Q (@LadyVelvet_HFQ) October 24, 2023

Meanwhile, disturbing videos have emerged on social media, showing Israeli soldiers torturing and physically abusing Palestinian detainees who are lying on the ground, naked, with their hands and feet bound.

In short, the number of Palestinians killed and arrested in the West Bank alone does not capture the full extent of the terror experienced by Palestinians, including the destruction of hundreds of olive trees, property vandalism, physical assaults, shootings, and the construction of roads and outposts connecting settlements.