West Bankupdated 2h ago3 min read
Israeli Security Officials Say They Lost Control in the West Bank as Farmers Face Assaults
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Israeli army, Shin Bet, and police have lost control in the West Bank. Fears of increased settler violence against Palestinians during the olive harvest.
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Security warning and restrictions
Haaretz quoted security officials as saying that the Israeli army, the Shin Bet and the police have lost control of the situation in the West Bank, adding that those who claim there is control over the situation "are lying." Eyal Zamir held a meeting on Tuesday with senior security officials to discuss developments, but the meeting ended without any new decisions despite fears that the situation could deteriorate. Stéphane Dujarric urged all states and donor parties to take urgent measures to protect Palestinian areas in the West Bank, not just issue condemnations, and he said movement restrictions have prevented thousands of Palestinian farmers from reaching olive trees to harvest their crops.
“‘Anyone who says things are under control is lying.”
The Palestinian Land Defense and Settlement Committee announced that 23 assaults and violations by Israeli forces and settlers against farmers, their lands, crops, and supporters were recorded within 12 hours in seven governorates of the occupied West Bank. The committee said the assaults occurred on Wednesday between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. local time (3:00–15:00 GMT), with 10 in Nablus, 6 in Ramallah and al-Bireh, 2 in Salfit and Hebron, and 1 in Qalqilia, Jenin, and Bethlehem.
Detentions during olive harvest
Brad Landr, the Democratic candidate for the upcoming U.S. Congress election, was detained on Wednesday by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank while accompanying Palestinian farmers in olive harvesting, according to two human rights organizations.
Landr later posted on X that authorities released him after warning him, and he said dozens of rabbis and other participants remained in custody.
Landr told reporters in Beit Jala, in the West Bank, by phone: "The story here is how relentlessly the Israeli government is trying to prevent Palestinian farmers from picking their olives."
The Monte Carlo International account said the Israeli army arrested Brad Lander in the town of Husan in the Bethlehem Governorate, and it said eyewitnesses reported the army arrested 45 foreigners including Lander.
The Independent Arabic account said Hometown Rabbis for Human Rights reported that Landr was among 90 people detained by Israeli authorities while accompanying Palestinian farmers harvesting olives, according to Reuters.
Calls for protection and escalation
Jibril Rajoub, the secretary general of the central committee of the Palestinian Authority’s ruling Fatah faction, told AFP in Cairo that Israeli settler attacks risk setting off an "explosion" in the West Bank. Rajoub said he called for "peaceful confrontation" as he took part in meetings in Cairo with other Palestinian movements including the Hamas terror group, and he said "Bloodshed is no longer an acceptable option." UN rights experts called on Israel to protect Palestinian farmers in the West Bank during the olive harvest, and they warned that "year after year, the violence, destruction and restrictions intensify."
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA recorded 178 settler attacks related to the 2025 olive harvest in the West Bank, affecting 88 Palestinian communities, and it said more than 6,000 trees and saplings were "vandalized." The UN rights experts said the olive harvest should be a time when farmers can enjoy, in safety and dignity, the food and livelihoods their nature and land provide, not another season of fear, loss, violence and destruction.