Israeli settler attacks target Palestinian olive harvest in West Bank

What the report says

Israeli settlers carried out a series of attacks across the occupied West Bank on Friday that disrupted the Palestinian olive harvest, according to Al Jazeera’s reporting based on the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission and other local sources. The commission said it recorded at least 19 attacks in one day, including assaults on farmers, burning and uprooting olive trees, theft of crops and livestock, and damage to vehicles and property. The incidents were reported in several towns and villages, including Qusra, Tal, Jorish, Beita, Naqoura, Birzeit, Deir Bzeih, Farata and others near Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and Qalqilya.

The article said some of the most serious incidents included more than 50 olive trees uprooted in Qusra, a vehicle set on fire in Tal, gunfire-related injuries in Kafr ad-Dik, and attacks involving dogs and theft in Berin and Ein Qinya. It also reported that settlers assaulted a Palestinian man and child and stole their vehicle in Yabrud. Al Jazeera quoted its correspondent in Ramallah as saying Palestinians increasingly harvest in larger groups and are accompanied by international activists because of intimidation and violence during the season.

Separately, Israeli forces detained 16 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank, according to Wafa news agency and local sources cited by Anadolu. Arrests were reported in Hebron, Qalqilya and Beita, including mosque officials in Hebron. The reporting fits a broader pattern of tension around the annual olive harvest, which is economically important and also a major part of Palestinian rural life.