ISTANBUL

Israeli settlers on Monday confronted olive pickers in the town of Aqraba, southern Nablus, firing live rounds to intimidate and force them to leave their lands, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Israeli occupation forces and settlers have carried out a total of 333 attacks against olive pickers since the beginning of the season in October, the agency said, citing the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission.

It said the occupation forces and settlers prevented citizens from accessing an area of 500,000 dunams (a measure of land area) of their lands, including 200,000 dunams surrounded by settlements and 300,000 dunams isolated behind the apartheid wall.

Settler violence in the West Bank has particularly risen since the Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas, in retaliation for which Israel has killed nearly 18,000 people in the Gaza Strip besides leaving a vast trail of destruction and implementing a full siege in the enclave.