RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

Illegal Israeli settlers staged 158 assaults against Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the olive harvest season in October, according to a local official.

Muayyar Shaaban, who heads the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, said field teams documented 17 attacks by the Israeli army and 141 others by illegal settlers.

“These attacks ranged from violent physical assaults, arrests, movement restrictions, denial of access, intimidation, and harassment to direct gunfire,” Shaaban said.

According to the official, 56 attacks were carried out in the northern city of Nablus, 51 assaults in the central city of Ramallah, and 15 in Hebron in the southern West Bank.

Shaaban noted that 57 incidents of movement restrictions and intimidation against olive pickers were documented, in addition to 22 cases of beating and physical assault against farmers.

A total of 795 olive trees were destroyed in 74 attacks directly targeting olive-planted lands, he added.

The Palestinian official described the season as “one of the most difficult and dangerous in decades” due to the escalating attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers.

Shaaban accused the Israeli occupation of systematically targeting the olive harvest season due to the deep emotional and historical bond between Palestinians and their land as part of “a clear and declared plan to control Palestinian geography and deny Palestinians access to their lands.”

According to Palestinian figures, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out 7,154 attacks against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank since October 2023, killing 33 Palestinians and displacing 33 Bedouin communities.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.