Palestinian olive farmers face increasing attacks by Israeli settlers in West Bank

Palestinian olive growers in the occupied West Bank have faced increasing incidents of violence by Israeli settlers, often under the protection of the Israeli military, in the last two weeks, according to an Israeli human rights monitor on Monday.

Yesh Din, which monitors Israeli violence against Palestinians in the occupied territories, reported that attacks across the northern West Bank include forcing Palestinian workers to flee and destroying their olive trees.

Late September and early October mark the beginning of the olive harvest season for Palestinians in the West Bank. This year’s season is of particular importance due to last year’s harvest being stopped by a massive wave of Israeli settler violence following the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Additionally, the Israeli military, implementing what it claims is a new security regimen in the West Bank, stopped many Palestinians from harvesting olives.

This has seen many Palestinians, who rely on olive farming as their sole income, facing increasingly difficult financial strain.

Yesh Din reported a series of attacks on olive growers that occurred over the weekend, during Yom Kippur on Saturday and continuing into Sunday. These attacks took place in or around the Palestinian villages of Yassuf, Turmus Aya, Yatma, Beit Furik, Jalud, Ramin, Bayt Lid, and Mughayyir.

In an incident on Saturday near Mughayyir, close to the illegal outpost of Malachei Hashalom, armed settlers reportedly stopped labourers from harvesting olives, assaulted them and forced them off their land.

Yesh Din reported that Israeli soldiers were present but did not intervene to prevent the attack, with the workers unable to return.

In another incident, this time in the village of Burin on Friday, settlers from the nearby illegal outpost of Givat Ronen attacked a Palestinian landowner while he was harvesting his olives, The Times of Israel reports.

The landowner, Bashar Eid, was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries to his legs as a result of the attack.

"They are trying to steal the land or displace me," Eid said to The Times of Israel.

"I am tired of the criminal settlers… the olives are my source of livelihood and I have nothing left… I have nothing left from any other source of livelihood," he added.

In total, Yesh Din said it recorded 36 incidents of violence by settlers and Israeli soldiers against Palestinian olive harvesters since the beginning of October.

Palestinian olive farmers whose land is located near illegal Israeli settlements are prohibited from accessing their lands freely, with them required to coordinate with Israeli forces.

Palestinians claim that even if Israeli forces grant them access to their own land, they not only fail to provide protection from armed settlers but often accompany settlers during the attacks to protect the assailants. Yesh Din reports that in 20 out of the 36 documented attacks, the Israeli military or police accompanied the settlers.

In a statement released on Sunday, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the "violent attacks and olive theft carried out by armed Jewish settler militias across different areas of the occupied West Bank".

The ministry also condemned the “burning and destruction of hundreds of olive trees, claiming this amounted to "organised state terrorism" and "part of the occupation's broader campaign of ethnic cleansing".