West Bank.. 21 Israeli attacks on olive farmers within 12 hours

The attacks included injuries, arrests, detentions, and the prevention and theft of crops, in addition to the leveling of lands and the uprooting and burning of trees, according to the statement.

In detail, Israeli forces detained a citizen and abused him in the Abu Sharif area between Deir Dibwan and Burqa in the Ramallah Governorate (central), seized his vehicle, and stole the olives he had collected. They also leveled 35 dunams of agricultural land south of Kafr Malik and uprooted hundreds of fruit-bearing olive trees, according to the statement.

The Commission added that settlers attacked olive pickers in Turmus Ayya and tried to prevent them from continuing the harvest, and also stole the crop in the Wadi al-Baqara area in Al-Mazra'a ash-Sharqiya, and in the Al-Wajh al-Qibli area in the village of Deir Ibzi' (central).

In the Jerusalem Governorate, settlers stormed the village of Mikhmas and burned an olive tree, while Israeli forces fired gas canisters at farmers in the towns of Jaba' and Silat ad-Dhahr and the village of Fandaqumiya in the Jenin Governorate, forcing them to leave their lands, and detained two brothers while they were picking olives in the village of 'Aba.

In the town of Ya'bad, southwest of Jenin, settlers attacked olive pickers on lands north of Al-Sahl Street, between the Kafrit junction and the Amriha area, stole the crop the farmers had collected, and expelled them at gunpoint, according to the Commission.

In the Nablus Governorate (north), a farmer and a 17-year-old boy were injured as a result of settlers attacking them with clubs while picking olives on Mount Qammas in the town of Beita. Armed settlers also expelled farmers from the Jabal al-Arma area and stole olive fruits and agricultural equipment.

The attacks, according to the statement, included preventing Palestinians from picking olives east of Al-Naqra Street in Beit Furik, east of Nablus, which is within the area classified as "Area B," subject to Israeli security control and Palestinian civil and administrative control according to the "Oslo 2" agreement signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in 1995.

Settlers also attacked farmers in the village of Tell, southwest of Nablus, and stole olive fruits, mats, and a machine for harvesting the crop.

In the Salfit Governorate (north), settlers attacked farmers in Wadi Abbas east of Qarawat Bani Hassan and sprayed them with pepper spray, which led to one of them suffering from suffocation. Israeli forces also arrested the young man Luay Younis while he was picking olives north of the city of Salfit and prevented farmers from reaching their lands west of Kafr ad-Dik.

In the Qalqilya Governorate (north), settlers smashed two electric olive-picking machines in the town of Jinsafut and attacked farmers, expelling them from their lands in the Al-Wadat area in the village of Hajjah.

In the town of Idhna in the Hebron Governorate (south), Israeli forces and settlers forcibly prevented farmers and activists from picking olives on lands threatened with confiscation and forced them to evacuate them.

The Commission confirmed that targeting the olive season with these attacks threatens the farmers' ability to remain on their lands and benefit from them, in light of the fact that the prevention of access to land coincides with the theft of crops, the destruction of work tools, and the uprooting of trees.

It stressed the necessity of providing protection for farmers, enabling them to reach their lands, and holding those responsible for the attacks accountable.

On Monday, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission announced that it had documented 136 attacks carried out by the Israeli army and settlers related to the olive harvest season since the beginning of this October.

The attacks varied between beatings, expulsion, intimidation, gunfire, gas, arrests, theft of fruits and harvesting equipment, and sabotage of trees, causing damage to farmers and restricting their access to their lands, according to the Commission.