Rights group reports 672 incidents of settler violence since start of olive harvest 1 month ago

More than 670 incidents of settler violence have taken place since the start of the Palestinian olive harvest nearly one month ago, according to the Yesh Din rights group.

The 672 incidents since September 27 amount to an average of more than 25 incidents per day and have been taking place in 194 Palestinian communities across the West Bank, Yesh Din says.

The attacks include 135 incidents of physical violence, 106 incidents of blocking Palestinians from harvesting their olive trees, 176 incidents of theft and property damage and 49 incidents of tree vandalism.

More than 23% of the incidents took place while the IDF was on site or involved, according to Yesh Din.

IDF chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said last week that the military “will continue to act to enable the harvest to take place,” but activists and Palestinians have repeatedly reported Israeli forces detaining activists or preventing them from reaching olive groves.

The data are based on documentation by Yesh Din field researchers, verified information from the field, and cross-referencing public reports and accounts from various sources. The review covers the period from September 27 to October 22, 2026.

“Settler violence during the olive harvest is a recurring phenomenon, but the scale of violence by settlers and soldiers that we are witnessing and documenting this year is exceptional,” says Yesh Din executive director Ziv Stahl.

“The near-total absence of law enforcement by the Israeli military and police, coupled with the backing settlers receive from government officials, makes clear that this violence is part of a broader, systematic Israeli government policy of forcibly displacing Palestinians from their land as part of a campaign of ethnic cleansing, paving the way for the annexation of the West Bank without its Palestinian population,” she adds.