Israeli attacks on olive harvest ‘threaten Palestinian way of life’: UN

The UN warned that this year’s olive harvest is on track to be the most violent in more than a decade, and Israeli settlers have launched additional attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

On Saturday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported several instances of settler violence, including one in fields close to Beita and Huwara, near Nablus in the West Bank, and another in Sinjil, a town close to Ramallah.

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After Israeli settlers opened fire on three Palestinian farmers as they were picking their olives, three others were hurt in al-Maniya, southeast of Bethlehem.

Since Israel launched its Gaza war in 2023, there have been more settler and military attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank. However, the olive harvest season this year, which started last month, has seen an even higher increase in violent incidents.

October is on track to be the most violent month since UNRWA began tracking settler violence in 2013, according to UNRWA’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

In a statement released on social media, Roland Friedrich, director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, stated that “the olive trees are deeply rooted in Palestinian heritage and identity. …

According to Friedrich, “attacks on the olive harvest threaten the very way of life for many Palestinians” and “increase the occupied West Bank’s coercive environment further.” Families should be able to harvest their olives without fear of harming their land, according to the article.

At least 126 Israeli settlement attacks have been reported in 70 Palestinian towns and villages this olive-picking season, according to the most recent UN statistics released on Thursday.

According to the UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA), more than 4, 000 olive trees and saplings have also been vandalized.

OCHA in addition claimed that the expansion of Israeli-occupied West Bank settlements has “further undermined Palestinian farmers’ ability to harvest their olive trees.”

In the wake of the Gaza War, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has been quickly launching settlements, drawing international human rights organizations’ condemnations and warnings.

Israeli far-right politicians have been calling for Israel’s formally annexation of the West Bank, including members of Netanyahu’s ruling coalition.

The UN human rights office warned in July that Israeli security forces are collaborating with them to increase settler violence in the West Bank and supporting them there.