Violence flares in West Bank as settler gangs torch cars and attack farmers during olive harvests

Violence has broken out in West Bank villages with marauding settler gangs attacking farmers, torching cars and burning valuable olive crops. At least six people, including two elderly victims and a journalist were injured in the flare-up timed to coincide with the harvesting of local olive groves. Included in those hurt were a 63 year-old woman and a 40 year-old man who were set upon by settlers, with an American journalist reporting for the Washington Post also injured.

It is feared the burning of olive trees and cars has caused hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. In one flashpoint about a dozen settlers dressed in black charged down a hill near an outpost – illegal under international law - to a field where Palestinians and activists were harvesting olives. To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google then make us your preferred source. Free and easy-to-do, just click on the link here to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed.

They torched about a dozen trees and hurled stones from slingshots at nearby Palestinians. American journalist, photographer Heidi Levine, who was at the scene, was taken to hospital where she told reporters she "got jumped." United Nations officials say the past two weeks have already seen more attacks by violent Israeli settlers than during the entire harvest season last year. The organisation says this year levels of settler violence have reached an all-time high and it comes at a time of soaring tensions between Palestinian groups and Israel .

"The settlers want to attack us and force us from our homes," said Moutaz Abdelhadi, ⁠42, a farmer ⁠who witnessed an attack in the Abu Falah area. Witnesses reported that even after Israeli troops arrived on the scene the attack continued and soldiers fired tear gas in the direction of Palestinian groups. The sound of live gunfire could be heard in the area, and a photographer saw at least one armed settler fire ⁠a gun. Farmers were set upon by settlers in a separate incident earlier on Friday in the area of Turmus Ayya village where three cars were burned.

A group of farmers harvesting olives was then attacked by the settlers. Local man Salah Abu Niswa said the settlers: "...snuck up like thieves, then they caught someone by himself and began to beat him." The attackers were believed to have been wearing masks and some were thought to have carried gas canisters. Israel has imposed new rules on the olive harvest this year, prohibiting Palestinians from working in what’s known as Area C, which is under Israeli security control and encompasses the majority of the territory’s agricultural land.

At least four Palestinians have been killed and more than 100 injured since the harvest season began earlier this month, according to Palestinian officials. Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has surged, with at least 170 attacks since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest. Settlers have ‌been emboldened by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , who has overseen a rapid expansion of settlements.

Netanyahu has criticized the violence but has taken few steps to crack down on incidents that have drawn international condemnation and sanction including by Britain. Israeli elections are taking place on October 27 and are one of the most important in the nation’s history as they are the first since the 2023 Hamas attacks which sparked the Gaza War. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving premier and is seeking a seventh term but faces wide criticism for his handling of the wars, which have isolated Israel internationally.

Other issues facing Israelis include the security of the occupied West Bank, including the growth of settlements, and compulsory military conscription for ultra-Orthodox communities. Israel uses proportional representation to elect 120 members to the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, although no single party since the nation was founded in 1948 has won a 61-seat majority. Instead, politicians and parties cut deals and form coalitions to win power.

The West Bank is home to some 500,000 settlers and at least three million Palestinians. UN bodies and most countries have labelled the settlements illegal under international law regarding military occupations. Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.