OMM Redaksiyası
At least 16 Palestinians, including a woman, were injured in attacks on olive harvesters across the occupied West Bank on Saturday, while about 55 olive trees were burned, medical and local sources said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said five people were beaten while picking olives in a field in Sebastia, north of Nablus. Three others were injured in an attack in Asira al-Qibliya, south of Nablus, and two were hurt after being sprayed with pepper spray in nearby Beit Imrin.
Attacks on olive harvesters
A farmer suffered bruises when he was attacked while harvesting olives in Arrabuna, east of Jenin, the Red Crescent said.
In Rantis, northwest of Ramallah, a man, his wife and their children were attacked with sticks, weapons and pepper spray in the village’s Al-Tin al-Shami area, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. Five family members were injured, and the woman was run over during the attack, the agency said.
Local sources also said Palestinian farmers harvesting olives east of Qalqilya were assaulted in an attempt to stop them reaching their land and force them to leave.
Olive trees burned near Abu Dis
About 55 olive trees, more than 40 years old, were burned on Palestinian land in the wilderness area of Abu Dis, southeast of Jerusalem, Wafa reported. A Palestinian farmer was harvesting olives there with his wife, children and grandchildren when the attack took place, the agency said.
The olive harvest usually starts in early October and continues through late November. It is one of the most important agricultural and economic seasons for Palestinian towns and villages.
The season is often accompanied by increased attacks and restrictions on farmers’ access to their land, including beatings, blocked access to fields, crop theft and the uprooting or destruction of trees.
Tree damage and attacks in the West Bank
According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, more than 45,000 trees were cut down or damaged in the West Bank during the first half of 2026, including more than 26,000 olive trees.
Figures released by the commission on Friday showed that Israeli occupiers carried out 647 attacks across the West Bank in September, killing three Palestinians.
Official Palestinian figures say about 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 194 settlements and 400 settlement outposts across the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. The United Nations has repeatedly said Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law and has warned that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
