Israeli forces and illegal settlers carried out 23 attacks and violations against Palestinian farmers, their lands and crops, as well as solidarity activists, across seven governorates in the occupied West Bank within 12 hours on Wednesday, a Palestinian commission said.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said in a statement that the incidents were recorded between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. local time (0300–1500 GMT), coinciding with the ongoing olive harvest season.
According to the commission, 10 incidents were documented in Nablus, six in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, two each in Salfit and Hebron, and one each in Qalqilya, Jenin and Bethlehem.
The violations included shootings, physical assaults, arrests, preventing farmers from harvesting olives, theft of crops and equipment, and the burning and bulldozing of agricultural land.
The commission said a Palestinian farmer was shot in the hand with live fire while harvesting olives in the village of Osarin in Nablus governorate.
Another farmer suffered severe breathing difficulties after being sprayed with pepper spray in the Wadi Abbas area of Qarawat Bani Hassan in Salfit governorate.
In the town of Nahalin, southwest of Bethlehem, Israeli forces attacked farmers and solidarity activists in the al-Habla area, arresting an elderly woman and several activists, including Brad Lander, a Democratic candidate for the US Congress, according to the commission.
Israeli forces also confiscated harvested olives during the incident.
The commission also reported the arrest of a Russian solidarity activist while participating in the olive harvest in the Christian town of Taybeh in the central West Bank, and a young Palestinian man while harvesting olives in Kafr ad-Dik in the north.
Israeli violence
In Nablus governorate, illegal Israeli settlers set fire to agricultural land in the town of Burqa, while Israeli bulldozers levelled olive-planted land in the Rajmanat area of Madama, the commission said.
Illegal settlers also attacked olive pickers near Jalud School and opened fire towards them before Israeli forces arrived and physically assaulted the farmers.
In Beit Furik, illegal settlers threw harvested olives onto the ground and seized crops at gunpoint, forcing families to leave their fields.
Similar incidents involving the theft of olives and agricultural equipment were reported in Qaryut, Awarta and Tell, while farmers were expelled from the Wadi Abuwayn area of al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya.
The commission said Israeli forces also pursued farmers in the al-Jiza area of Beita, preventing them from harvesting olives and opening fire in their direction.
In Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate, farmers were prevented from accessing their lands in the al-Harayiq area of Deir Jarir.
Farmers, journalists and commission staff were also expelled from agricultural land in Turmus Ayya after Israeli forces declared the area a closed military zone.
Landowners were prevented from harvesting olives in al-Mughayyir, while illegal settlers brought livestock onto olive-planted land in Burqa and Kafr Malik.
Daily struggle
In the southern Hebron governorate, armed Israeli settlers opened fire towards olive pickers in the Birin area, while farmers and activists were prevented from harvesting in Idhna, according to the commission.
In Qalqilya governorate, illegal settlers cut down olive trees in the town of Farata, east of the city.
Meanwhile, farmers in Deir Abu Daif, east of Jenin, were forced to leave their lands despite having obtained prior coordination and approval to access them.
The commission said the incidents reflected a combination of direct attacks, military closures, arrests and crop confiscations that have turned access to farmland into a daily struggle for Palestinian farmers.
It warned that expelling landowners and targeting solidarity activists and journalists undermines efforts to protect the olive harvest and document violations.
The commission called for effective measures to ensure farmers’ safe and continuous access to their lands and accountability for those responsible for the attacks.
Attacks by illegal Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their agricultural lands have intensified during the olive harvest season, which began in early October and provides a vital source of income for thousands of Palestinian families.
According to Palestinian figures, approximately 750,000 illegal Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, across 194 settlements and around 400 settlement outposts.
Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian territory are illegal under international law.
Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights organisations have repeatedly accused Israeli authorities of failing to prevent attacks by illegal settlers or hold those responsible accountable, despite repeated assaults on Palestinians, their homes, farmland and property.
