OCHA: Israeli settlers launch 71 attacks amid West Bank olive harvest

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Oct 2025 12:38
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UN data show growing settler violence as Palestinians face attacks, crop theft, and land usurpation during the olive harvest across the occupied West Bank.

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A Palestinian man walks past olive trees that have been uprooted by Israeli occupation forces in the occupied West Bank village of al-Mughayyir, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP)

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recorded 71 attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank between October 7 and 13, with half linked to the annual olive harvest season.

OCHA reported that settlers targeted Palestinians in 27 villages, causing injuries and property damage. The incidents included assaults on farmers, theft of crops or equipment, and vandalism of olive trees.

During the olive harvest, Palestinian lands frequently face attacks from settlers and the Israeli occupation forces. Farmers struggle to access their fields amid repeated violations, leading to substantial material losses and increased hardship under occupation.

Since October 7, 2023, settlers have carried out 7,154 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, resulting in the killing of 33 Palestinians, including children.

Tree destruction, agricultural losses

In a similar vein, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported extensive destruction of Palestinian farmland, documenting 48,728 trees uprooted, destroyed, or damaged, including 37,237 olive trees.

In a related incident, Israeli settlers plowed Palestinian agricultural land in al-Farisiya, in the Northern Jordan Valley, preventing Palestinians from cultivating their fields during the rain-fed season and further tightening control over the area’s fertile land.

Ongoing settler attacks in the region have emptied three Palestinian villages, reduced family numbers in other villages, and caused the loss of thousands of dunams of grazing land and hundreds of dunams of agricultural land.

It is worth noting that the Israeli occupation forces carry out daily waves of raids, detentions, and property destruction across several areas of the occupied West Bank, as part of an ongoing campaign to expand settlements and crush Palestinian Resistance.

Simultaneously, settlers, in the company of Israeli troops, continued their assaults on Palestinian farmland amid the olive harvest season, a vital economic and cultural period for Palestinians.

As Gaza ceasefire holds, West Bank faces rising tensions: FP

The recent ceasefire in Gaza, which includes the return of captives and the entry of humanitarian aid, has been met with cautious optimism. While many have welcomed the truce, observers warn against complacency.

However, Daniel C. Kurtzer a former US ambassador to Egypt and "Israel", and Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace state in a recent analysis for Foreign Policy Magazine that despite the deal’s potential to bring a measure of relief to Palestinians in Gaza, attention is now shifting to the rapidly deteriorating situation in the West Bank.

Brokered with the involvement of US President Donald Trump’s administration, the ceasefire marks a diplomatic achievement that had been in discussion for over a year. But the writers note that it risks being overshadowed by aggression and territorial shifts taking place beyond Gaza.

The analysts say that since October 2023, the number of Israeli settlement outposts has surged. An additional 114 outposts have been established, adding to the 190 already present. These new structures, whether residential or agricultural, have led to increased land usurpation, with approximately 13,600 acres of Palestinian land stolen through designations such as "state land" and military seizure orders. At least 68 agricultural sites have also received full infrastructure support.

Meanwhile, 11 previously unauthorized outposts have been retroactively legalized by the Israeli government. The writers say the aggressive pace of settlement expansion has not only fueled Palestinian anger but also undercut prospects for any meaningful peace.