Palestinian farmers harvesting olives across the occupied West Bank were assaulted on Tuesday by illegal Israeli paramilitary colonizers operating under military protection, in a series of coordinated attacks that left one man injured and several groves damaged.
In the Bethlehem area, a group of colonizers stormed the Khallet an-Nakhla area near the village of Wadi Rahhal and began harvesting olives from land belonging to Issa Khalil Odah.
Hamdi Ziyada, the head of Wadi Rahhal village Council, stated that local residents attempted to stop the intruders but were violently attacked by both the colonizers and Israeli soldiers.
Ziyada added that sixty-year-old Khalil Mohammad Khalawi sustained bruises and injuries during the assault.
In Ramallah, in central West Bank, Israeli colonizers blocked Palestinian farmers from accessing their olive groves in the Tel area of Sinjil and in Turmus Ayya.
In another incident, colonizers herded livestock through olive groves in the Khalayel area south of al-Mughayyir, causing extensive damage to the trees.
Local sources reported that colonizers also attacked harvesters in the plains of Turmus Ayya, an area that has faced intensified assaults throughout the current olive season.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 71 colonizer attacks across the West Bank between October 7 and 13, half of which were directly linked to the olive harvest.
These attacks often occur with the support or presence of Israeli soldiers, who either stand by or actively participate.
The Palestinian Wall & Colonization Resistance Commission documented 158 attacks targeting olive pickers since the start of this year’s harvest. Of these, 17 were carried out by Israeli soldiers, while 141 were perpetrated by colonizers.
The olive harvest season, a vital economic and cultural tradition for Palestinians, has increasingly become a flashpoint for escalating Israeli violations. Farmers face routine obstruction, physical assault, and destruction of property, resulting in significant financial losses and deepening daily hardship under occupation.
Since October 7, 2023, colonizers have carried out 7,154 documented attacks against Palestinians and their property. These assaults, along with military operations, have led to the uprooting, destruction, or damage of 48,728 trees—of which 37,237 were olive trees.
