Settler Violence Targets Palestinian Olive Harvest in the West Bank

Israeli settlers have carried out attacks and pogroms disrupting the Palestinian olive harvest in the West Bank, while Israeli forces separately arrested a number of Palestinians across the occupied territory.

The Palestinian Anti-Colonization and Wall Commission, a Palestinian government body operating under the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said at least 19 settler attacks were recorded on Friday.

According to the commission, the incidents included assaults on Palestinians harvesting olives, the burning and uprooting of olive trees, and the theft of crops and livestock. Other Palestinians and their vehicles were also targeted.

Settlers set fire to olive groves owned by Palestinians and stole olives during what is considered the most important season for the single-seed fruit.

The commission said more than 50 olive trees were uprooted by settlers in Qusra.

It added that settlers also attacked and injured Palestinian farmers taking part in the harvest in Tal, where a Palestinian-owned vehicle was burned.

In addition, olive harvesters were attacked in Jorish, Beita, Naqoura, Birzeit, Deir Bzeih and Farata.

One farmer was injured in a shooting reported in Kafr ad-Dik, and the use of live ammunition was also recorded in a settler pogrom, backed by Israeli forces, in Deir Ballut.

In a separate incident, an elderly Palestinian woman in Berin, east of Hebron, was injured after settlers set dogs on the farmers, while sheep were stolen in Ein Qinya.

A Palestinian man and his child were attacked by settlers and had their car stolen in Yabrud. Settler attacks targeting Palestinian-owned vehicles were also reported in the towns of Sarda and al-Rihan.

Blatant attacks targeting Palestinians

Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said settlers, backed by Israeli forces, have become increasingly brazen in their attacks on Palestinians during the olive harvest despite the presence of activists and foreign observers.

"Palestinians have to carry out the harvest in large groups, including international solidarity activists, to try to prevent the intimidation and attacks by settlers," Ibrahim said, adding that settlers wait for the groups to start leaving at the end of the harvest before striking.

"It has become a very difficult journey, as Palestinians try to leave the harvest areas, Israeli settlers continue to threaten them under the protection of the Israeli army," she said.

According to Ibrahim's reporting, a Palestinian family was attacked by Israeli settlers who recently began building an illegal settlement outpost near Ramallah, "using it as a base to attack Palestinians," she said.

"No one is spared," Ibrahim said.

For Palestinians, the olive harvest should be a season of joy, but instead they fear attacks and threats from settlers backed by Israeli forces.

Sixteen Palestinians arrested

As settler attacks and pogroms continued, Israeli forces arrested 16 Palestinians in raids across the occupied West Bank on Friday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa and local sources who spoke to Anadolu.

In Hebron, in the southern West Bank, Israeli forces arrested nine Palestinians after raiding and searching their homes, including Ibrahimi Mosque director Moataz Abu Sneineh and Hammam Abu Markhiya, an official responsible for the mosque's upkeep, according to Wafa.

In the city of Qalqilya, Israeli forces arrested five Palestinians in a raid, local sources said.

Two other Palestinians were arrested after Israeli forces raided and searched several homes in Beita, south of Nablus, the sources said.