Illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizers assaulted Palestinian olive harvesters early Friday in the villages of Qabalan and Qusra, located south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank’s northern region.
At the same time, Israeli occupation forces invaded the entrance of Aqraba, deploying stun grenades and toxic gas to forcibly expel farmers from their groves.
Local sources said several colonizers invaded Palestinian olive orchards in areas between the towns of Qusra and Qabalan.
They added that the colonizers attacked the Palestinian families, picking their olive trees in their orchards, and attempted to force them out of their lands.
These synchronized assaults are part of a relentless campaign of violence that intensifies each olive harvest season.
Farmers across Nablus Governorate face near-daily aggression that obstructs access to their land, damages crops, and inflicts severe economic losses.
The destruction of olive trees, many of them generations old, represents a calculated effort to sever Palestinians from their heritage and livelihood.
In related news, a group of colonizers destroyed a water network proving the needed irrigation to Palestinian farmlands in addition to bulldozing about 30 Dunams of lands in Khallet Khader area, in the Northern Plains of the occupied West Bank.
Since October 7, 2023, illegal colonizers have carried out over 7,000 documented attacks across the occupied West Bank, resulting in the killing of 33 Palestinians.
Nearly 49,000 trees have been uprooted, smashed, or burned, including more than 37,000 olive trees, the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission confirmed.
These figures reflect a systematic strategy of dispossession, where settler violence and military enforcement work hand-in-hand to deepen the humanitarian crisis and erase Palestinian presence from the land.
Since October 7, 2023, colonizers have carried out more than 7,155 documented attacks against Palestinians and their property, resulting in the killing of 34 civilians and the forced displacement of 33 Bedouin communities.
These communities, comprising 455 families and 2,853 individuals, have been uprooted from their homes and relocated under duress, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
The ongoing violence has deepened fear and instability across the region, particularly among vulnerable populations. Local officials and rights groups continue to call for international protection and accountability.
All of Israel’s colonies in the occupied West Bank, including those in and around occupied East Jerusalem, are illegal under International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions. They also constitute war crimes under International Law.
Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment and acts of terror against civilian populations.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.” It also prohibits the “individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory”.
Articles 53 and 147, prohibit the destruction of civilian property and classify pillage as a war crime.
