8 injured, including American journalist, in attacks by Israeli occupiers in West Bank

At least eight people, including an American journalist and a Palestinian Civil Defense member, were injured Friday in attacks by Israeli occupiers across the occupied West Bank, with several vehicles also set ablaze. The Palestinian Civil Defense said one of its members sustained bruises when Israeli occupiers attacked an emergency crew responding to a fire involving three Palestinian vehicles in the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah. In a statement, the agency said the occupiers assaulted its personnel after they arrived to extinguish the blaze, which had been started by the attackers, and then set fire to a Civil Defense vehicle. The agency condemned the assault, warning that attacks on emergency crews and their vehicles while carrying out humanitarian duties pose a direct threat to efforts to protect lives and property and respond to emergencies. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its teams in Ramallah treated a 63-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man who were injured during the attack in the town of Abu Falah. Both were being taken to a hospital, the group said. In Burqa, east of Ramallah, the Red Crescent reported four additional injuries after Israeli occupiers attacked Palestinian farmers. The Palestinian rights group Al-Baydar said the victims sustained injuries to their heads, backs, and hands, while a foreign journalist was pepper-sprayed during the assault. US journalist, farmers assaulted Israeli occupiers attacked farmers in Abu Falah at the same time as another attack on the nearby town of Turmus Ayya, witnesses told Anadolu. Earlier Friday, local sources told Anadolu that a group of occupiers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives in the town of Turmus Ayya and assaulted several farmers. The occupiers also torched three Palestinian vehicles and attacked the outskirts of the town, the sources added. The vehicles were set ablaze in the Al-Nabaat area, while warning sirens sounded in Turmus Ayya to alert residents to the attacks, according to local sources. Al-Baydar said American journalist and international solidarity activist Heidi Levine was injured when Israeli occupiers assaulted her in Turmus Ayya in the presence of Israeli troops. Levine was taken to Al-Istishari Hospital for treatment, the organization added. Elsewhere, in Rammun, east of Ramallah, Israeli occupiers assaulted Palestinian farmers and forced them off their land during the olive harvest, according to Al-Baydar. In Qabalan, south of Nablus, occupiers chased and physically assaulted a Palestinian woman before stealing her olive harvest, the organization said. Similar attacks targeted farmers and olive pickers in the village of Burin and the town of Majdal Bani Fadil, also south of Nablus. In Arraba, southwest of Jenin, Israeli occupiers attacked homes belonging to the Al-Rahhal family, Al-Baydar reported. On Monday, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said it had documented 136 attacks linked to the olive harvest season carried out by Israeli forces and occupiers since the beginning of October. According to the commission, the incidents included beatings, expulsions, intimidation, gunfire, tear gas, and arrests. They also included the theft of olives and harvesting equipment and damage to trees, causing losses to farmers and restricting their access to agricultural land. The olive harvest is a vital source of income for thousands of Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank, where farmers face growing attacks and restrictions on access to their land during the season. Attacks by Israeli forces and occupiers against Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have intensified since the start of Israel’s genocide on Gaza in October 2023.