West Bankupdated 17m ago3 min read
Israeli Occupation Forces And Colonists Attack Palestinian Olive Harvesters Across Seven West Bank Governorates
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16 attacks by Israeli forces and colonists against olive harvesters across seven West Bank governorates. Live ammunition and injuries reported among farmers during harvest-related assaults.
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16 attacks during harvest
The Wall and Colonization Resistance Commission documented 16 attacks carried out by Israeli occupation forces and colonists against Palestinian olive harvesters and their lands across seven West Bank governorates on Tuesday between 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM. The Commission said the assaults included firing live ammunition at farmers, inflicting injuries through beatings and tear gas canisters, and detaining several olive harvesters, while also involving burning an agricultural structure, theft of crops and harvesting equipment, land leveling, and uprooting of olive trees. The Commission warned that the continuation of this pattern of attacks, carried out under the military protection of the colonists, threatens to transform the denial of the olive harvest into long-term displacement from agricultural lands.
The Commission called on the international community to intervene immediately to protect Palestinian farmers, halt the attacks by occupation forces and colonists, and ensure accountability for those responsible for firing live ammunition, assaulting civilians, and destroying agricultural property. The Al-Najah News account described asphyxia after Israeli occupation forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at citizens attempting to reach their agricultural lands to harvest olives in Beit Anan, northwest of Jerusalem, during the morning hours of Tuesday.
Beit Anan and Beit Hanina
Al-Najah News said Israeli occupation forces targeted dozens of citizens with tear gas and stun grenades in the Salikāt and al-Barij areas on the outskirts of Beit Anan, preventing them from reaching their lands and harvesting olives. Al-Najah News added that settlers were present in the area, attacked the citizens, and prevented them from picking olives under protection of the occupation forces. The occupied Jerusalem area included teargas inhalation after occupation forces and settlers targeted dozens of farmers trying to reach their lands in the Sallaqat and Al-Bireh areas on the outskirts of Beit Hanina, northwest of Jerusalem.
Occupation forces entered the area after the assault in Huwwara south of Nablus and provided protection to the settlers, detaining a number of Palestinians. The Resistance Commission Against the Wall and Settlements stressed that today’s assaults reveal an escalating level of violence against Palestinian farmers, shifting from threats and land access bans to live gunfire, physical assault, and arrests during the harvest season.
Taybeh harassment and losses
The village of Taybeh, described as the only remaining Christian community in the West Bank, suffered violence and harassment by settlers during olive harvest. Yesh Din reported 672 incidents of settler violence between 23 September and 23 October during the olive harvest in the West Bank, amounting to an average of more than 25 incidents per day across 194 Palestinian communities. The attacks included 135 incidents of physical violence, 106 incidents of blocking Palestinians from harvesting their olive trees, 176 incidents of theft and property damage, and 49 incidents of tree vandalism.
The World Council of Churches quoted accompaniers describing the Taybeh olive trees as “about 500 to 600 years” and said the harvesting time this year was moved forward about two weeks. On 22 October, “five army jeeps came with about 30 soldiers and chased the farmers from their land,” and the army was in the village from 9 am to 3 pm to make sure nobody would return to their land.