The Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission has documented 259 separate assaults against Palestinian olive harvesters since the beginning of this year’s harvest season in early October, WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency said.
The attacks—carried out by Israeli soldiers and illegal paramilitary colonizers—have included beatings, arrests, movement restrictions, intimidation, and live fire.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Commission head Moayyad Shaaban reported that 41 of the incidents were committed by Israeli forces, while colonizers were responsible for 218. The most affected areas were Ramallah (83 attacks), Nablus (69), and Hebron (34).
Shaaban noted that 63 of the documented cases involved deliberate obstruction and intimidation of harvesters, while 44 included direct physical assaults.
He described the current season as one of the most dangerous in recent decades, citing the use of wartime tactics and the legal impunity granted to colonizers. These include the arming of colonizer militias, the declaration of closed military zones over farmland, and the absence of accountability for violent acts.
The Commission also recorded 125 attacks targeting olive groves, including 46 cases of uprooting, smashing, or bulldozing trees—resulting in the destruction of 1,070 olive trees.
Shaaban emphasized that the rising number of attacks reflects a deliberate strategy to sabotage the olive harvest and terrorize Palestinian farmers.
The Commission’s documentation shows a sharp increase in assaults over recent years: 136 in 2022, 333 in 2023, 407 in 2024, and 259 so far this season.
He called on the international community to move beyond symbolic statements and take concrete action to protect Palestinian civilians and their land from what he described as state-backed violence and the official sponsorship of colonizer militias.
