OMM Newsroom
Israeli forces intensified actions against Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, seizing harvested olives, demolishing agricultural structures and preventing farmers from reaching their land during the olive harvest season.
The Al-Baidar rights organization said Israeli forces assaulted a Palestinian in the Abu Sharif area between Deir Dibwan and Burqa, east of Ramallah, before confiscating his vehicle and olive harvest.
The organization said the actions were harming Palestinians’ livelihoods and worsening conditions for farmers during the harvest season.
In the southern West Bank province of Hebron, Israeli forces demolished agricultural structures and rooms in the Ghaziywa area near the village of Susiya, Al-Baidar said. The demolitions damaged Palestinian property and facilities used to support farming, threatening farmers’ ability to continue working their land.
In the northern province of Tulkarm, the organization said Israeli forces were preventing hundreds of farmers in Deir al-Ghusun from reaching agricultural land beyond the separation wall to harvest olives, despite their having permits to access it.
Al-Baidar said the restrictions threatened to cost farmers part of their harvest and cause economic losses, as olive picking is limited to a specific period and is a major source of income for many Palestinian families. It also said harvested olives had been stolen in the Tel Ma’in area of Hebron.
The incidents took place during the olive harvest season, amid an increase in attacks by Israeli occupiers against Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said on Monday it had documented 136 attacks linked to the olive harvest by Israeli forces and occupiers since the beginning of October. The incidents included beatings, expulsions, intimidation, gunfire, tear gas, arrests, theft of olives and harvesting equipment, and damage to trees.
The commission said the attacks had caused losses to farmers and restricted their access to agricultural land.
Israeli army raids and attacks by occupiers against Palestinians and their property have intensified in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since Israel began its war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
