Israeli settlers attack Palestinian olive pickers in Turmus Ayya, torch vehicles

Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers picking olives north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Friday, assaulting several of them and setting three vehicles on fire, local sources said.

A group of settlers attacked Palestinians harvesting olives in the town of Turmus Ayya and physically assaulted several farmers, the sources told Anadolu, as reported by The Express Tribune. They also torched three Palestinian vehicles and attacked the edges of the town.

136 attacks in two weeks

The Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said on Monday it had documented 136 attacks linked to the olive harvest by Israeli forces and settlers since the start of October. They included:

• Violence: beatings, gunfire and tear gas
• Displacement: expulsions from land and intimidation of farmers
• Arrests of Palestinians
• Theft and damage: stolen olives and harvesting equipment, and damage to trees

The attacks have caused losses to farmers and restricted their access to their own land, the commission said. Late last month, Palestinians in the village of Jalud also said settlers had attacked the estate of a couple, Mahmod Tubasi, 60, and his wife Aedah, 51.

Attacks by Israeli forces and settlers on Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have intensified since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023.

A dangerous harvest

The olive harvest is a vital source of income for Palestinian families, and fears of violence this season have been running high ahead of Israeli elections. Earlier this week, settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Mukhmas, where villagers have formed night patrols out of fear their homes will be torched.

Pakistan told the UN Security Council on Thursday that “settler violence must be halted; and accountability ensured”, warning that settlement expansion and land seizures were entrenching annexation.

Gaza: woman killed in airstrike

In Gaza, a Palestinian woman, Reem Asaad Awad, 33, was killed and two people, including a girl, were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood on Wednesday, a medical source at Al-Shifa Hospital said. The strike caused extensive damage to the apartment and neighbouring buildings and started a large fire, which civil defence crews later put out.

Witnesses said Israeli military vehicles and quadcopter drones opened heavy fire on homes in the Tuffah neighbourhood, northeast of Gaza City, while explosive devices were dropped on Al-Sikka Street in the surrounding area. Sources said the Israeli army also carried out a large-scale demolition of homes east of Gaza City.

The UN’s acting Middle East coordinator told the Security Council this week that about 1,500 Palestinians, including more than 320 children, have been killed since the ceasefire.

Why it matters

For Palestinian farmers, picking olives from their own trees has become an act of courage. With attacks running at almost 10 a day this harvest, the world’s calls for accountability are still not reaching the hillsides of the West Bank. Read our reports on the settlers who torched a mosque in Mukhmas and on Pakistan’s statement at the UN Security Council.

This article draws on reporting by The Express Tribune, Anadolu and Dawn.