Israeli settlers attack more Palestinians as olive harvest violence surges

As the violence against residents who are stealing their olive trees intensifies, Israeli settlers have attacked a number of Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian Wafa news agency, settlers reportedly attacked farmers in the village of Deir Nidham, northwest of Ramallah, injuring at least three Palestinians on Saturday.

Wafa quoted local activist and activist Mujahid Tamimi saying that settlers beat the farmers with rifle butts and forced them to leave their land near the village’s western entrance.

Motasem Abdullah Tamimi, a 31-year-old resident, was later detained by Israeli forces in the village to protect the settlers, Tamimi added.

In the wake of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which started in October 2023, Palestinians across the West Bank have experienced a rise in Israeli military and settler violence.

More than 1, 000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 10, 000 others have been injured as a result of Israeli military and settler attacks, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

However, the olive harvest season this year, which typically begins in October, has seen an even more intense wave of violence.

Nour Odeh of Al Jazeera reported that settler attacks “usually occur in the company and protection of Israeli soldiers who occasionally engage in them.”

According to Odeh, “the settlers are armed, dangerous, and many of them serve in the army,” according to Odeh, who added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government has “emboldened” the settlers.

She reported that “the attacks are intended to drive Palestinians out of their homes, creating an environment where staying in one’s town is simply untenable and unsafe.”

Many Palestinians’ primary economic interests are inscribed in olive trees, and it is a significant cultural pillar of Palestinian society.

According to UN statistics, between 80 000 and 100 000 families rely on olive oil for their main and secondary income sources.

The Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission has reported 158 attacks on olive pickers in total since the start of the current year’s campaign.

141 settlers, who enjoy what human rights groups have called total impunity for violent acts against Palestinians, carried out by the Israeli army, and 141 by Israeli settlers.

Farmers across the West Bank have also been prevented from accessing their lands by Israeli forces for the second week in a row.

In Kafr Malek, east of Ramallah, settlers sprayed pepper gas on Palestinian farmers on Saturday, injuring several people.

Ahmad Shakarna, 65, was beaten while he was picking olives with his family in the village of Nahalin, close to Bethlehem, by a settler and three Israeli soldiers in a separate incident.

Israeli forces dispersed farmers who were trying to reach their lands in the al-Baqa’a region with tear gas and sound bombs in Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron.

In addition, armed settlers attacked farmers and took their tools from the Aqraba and Qabalan villages south of Nablus. Before being forced to flee their land, three Palestinians were seriously hurt in those attacks.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers reside in more than 250 settlements and outposts across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are deemed to be prohibited by international law.

Source: Aljazeera