Multiple attacks on Palestinian olive growers reported as harvest season begins
NGO says harvesters facing violent assaults, theft of their crops in last two weeks, including incidents in which security forces failed to intervene
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Palestinian olive growers in the West Bank have faced numerous incidents of violence by extremist settlers in the last two weeks, since the beginning of the harvest season, the Yesh Din organization reported.
The attacks have taken place across the northern West Bank and have included forcing laborers to flee, preventing them from working, stealing olives off the trees, stealing agricultural equipment, and cutting down trees, according to the organization, which monitors settler violence.
The olive harvest is a critical period for olive growers, and this year’s season is especially important, as many Palestinian growers were unable to harvest their crop last year due to security tensions in the West Bank following the October 7 Hamas atrocities and the outbreak of the Gaza war, which was accompanied by a massive spike in settler violence.
This reality has severely strained the finances of such growers.
Attacks by radical settlers on Palestinian olive growers have increased significantly in recent years as part of efforts by such extremists to harm such people financially and force them off their land, Israeli human rights groups have alleged.
According to Yesh Din, a spate of attacks on olive growers took place on Saturday, the fast of Yom Kippur, and Sunday in or around the Palestinian villages of Yassuf, Turmus Aya, Yatma, Beit Furik, Jalud, Ramin, Bayt Lid, and Mughayyir.
In one incident on Saturday on land next to Mughayyir close to the illegal outpost of Malachei Hashalom, armed settlers prevented laborers from harvesting olives, attacked them and forced them off their land while IDF soldiers at the site stood by and did not prevent the attack, Yesh Din said.
The laborers were unable to return to the olive groves following the incident.
The Times of Israel is also aware of an incident in the village of Burin on Friday, in which extremists from the nearby illegal outpost of Givat Ronen attacked a Palestinian landowner while he was harvesting his olives.
The landowner, Bashar Eid, was taken to a hospital and treated for injuries to his legs as a result of the attack.
“They are trying to steal the land or displace me,” he said. “I am tired of the criminal settlers… the olives are my source of livelihood and I have nothing left… I have nothing left from any other source of livelihood,” Eid added, saying his mental well-being has also been badly affected by repeated attacks against him and his land.
In total, Yesh Din said it has recorded some 36 incidents of violence by settlers and armed IDF soldiers against olive harvesters since October 3.
In 24 of those incidents, the assailants prevented the laborers from harvesting the crop, even though they took place on land where there are no IDF access limitations for the Palestinian landowners.
Palestinian olive growers whose land is located close to settlements or illegal settlement outposts are prohibited from accessing their land on a regular basis, and required to coordinate their access with the IDF, ostensibly to protect them from settler violence.
Such access is granted just twice a year for a few days at a time, once in the spring for cultivation and once in the autumn for harvest.
The army has yet to coordinate with such landowners for the upcoming harvest season, with the official start of the olive harvest as determined by the Palestinian Authority set to begin on Tuesday.
According to Yesh Din, in 20 out of the 36 incidents of settler violence it has recorded this month, either IDF soldiers, police officers or settlement security officers were present during the attacks but failed to protect the Palestinian laborers from attack.
In some cases, these security personnel even participated in forcing the laborers off the land, Yesh Din alleged.
The army said in response, “The IDF and the Civil Administration are working in order to allow the residents of the region to harvest olives on the land under their authority in security, and alongside this, are working [to take] all necessary steps with the goal of protecting the security of Israeli citizens and settlements in parallel to the carrying out of the harvest.
“Against the background of the war, the [security] forces are conducting increased risk management and [making] security adjustments in the field, which include coordination and close protection by the security forces, especially in the harvest areas near the Israeli settlements, roads, and the centers of friction in general.”
