Israeli occupiers attack olive farmers in West Bank, injuring 4

Four Palestinians were injured on Thursday when Israeli occupiers attacked farmers harvesting olives in the Wadi al-Shaer area in the occupied West Bank. Ibrahim al-Hamad, director of the Agriculture Directorate in Salfit province, told Anadolu that “a group of settlers attacked the farmers with sharp objects while they were picking olives and damaged five Palestinian vehicles.” The injured were taken to the Yasser Arafat Hospital in Salfit with bruises and fractures, he said. Hamad said Israeli occupiers have been carrying out a series of attacks against farmers in different parts of the province during the olive harvest. The attacks came as Israeli forces detained and subjected about 95 Palestinians to field interrogations across the West Bank overnight and on Thursday morning, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. The non-governmental group said the arrests and interrogations took place in several areas, including Aqaba in Tubas province, Madama in Nablus province, Yatta in Hebron province, as well as areas in Jenin, Bethlehem and Al-Bireh. It said Israeli forces also carried out a widespread arrest campaign in Qalqilya, targeting former prisoners and family members of current and former prisoners. Israeli forces raided dozens of homes, including the home of Muayyad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, causing damage inside homes and assaulting residents, according to the group. The West Bank has seen increasing attacks by Israeli occupiers and Israeli forces against Palestinians, their land and property, coinciding with the start of the olive harvest season in October, amid restrictions on farmers’ access to their agricultural land. According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, Israeli occupiers have carried out at least 14,742 attacks across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023, killing 66 Palestinians. The attacks damaged, uprooted, burned, or poisoned at least 147,111 trees, including 100,485 olive trees, the commission said.