Settlers attack West Bank olive harvesters, injure 3 Palestinians

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Anadolu
28 Oct 2025 20:52
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Settler violence intensifies during the West Bank olive harvest, with attacks disrupting agriculture and raising concerns over growing impunity.

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Palestinian farmers evacuate an injured man while the Israeli army uses teargas to disperse foreign activists and farmers from the groves while harvesting their olive trees, in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2025 (AP)

Three Palestinians were injured on Tuesday in assaults by illegal Israeli settlers targeting olive pickers across the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Sources speaking to Anadolu reported that settlers prevented farmers from the towns of Sinjil and Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, from accessing their olive groves. Israeli occupation forces intervened at the scene, firing tear gas canisters to disperse the confrontations.

In the northern West Bank, witnesses said around 100 settlers assaulted Palestinian families harvesting olives in Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya, beating them and injuring at least two people. Additionally, an elderly Palestinian man in Jurish, south of Nablus, sustained bruises after settlers forced farmers off their land.

Rising settler violence

These incidents are part of a wider surge in settler attacks during the annual olive harvest, which typically begins in mid-October.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported that over the past two years, settlers have carried out 7,154 assaults against Palestinians and their property in the occupied West Bank, resulting in 33 killings and the mass displacement of 33 Bedouin communities.

Muayyad Shaaban, head of the commission, stated that since the start of this year’s harvest, Israeli occupation forces and settlers have launched a total of 259 attacks on olive pickers. He said the breakdown includes 41 attacks by Israeli forces and 218 by illegal settlers, involving “violent physical assaults, arrests, movement restrictions, intimidation in all forms, and direct gunfire.”

Shaaban noted that Ramallah recorded 83 attacks, Nablus 69, and al-Khalil 34. He added that roughly 1,070 olive trees were damaged this season, calling it “the most difficult and dangerous in decades” due to "Israel’s" use of “closed military zones” to block Palestinian access to farmland.

Impact on production

According to the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry, this year’s olive yield is among the lowest in decades, estimated at only 15% of the average level. The Ministry reported that Palestine produced around 27,300 tons of olive oil in 2024, up from 10,000 tons in 2023.

Israeli attacks have intensified across the occupied West Bank since October 2023, with more than 1,062 Palestinians killed and over 10,300 injured, according to Palestinian figures.

In a landmark opinion issued in July, the International Court of Justice declared "Israel’s" occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the occupied West Bank and al-Quds.