Farmers in the occupied West Bank report settler attacks, restricted access to land and damaged olive trees as the harvest season begins. Israeli rights group Yesh Din documented 109 incidents of violence linked to the harvest in 75 Palestinian communities from Sept. 27 to Oct. 6.
In the village of Qaryut, activist Bashar Qaryouti told Al Jazeera that Israeli settlers harvested olives in a grove on privately owned Palestinian land that residents have been unable to reach since October 2023. He said the army had earlier stopped farmers from ploughing the land and later declared the area a closed military zone. A video circulated in settler groups shows two men knocking olives from trees with long sticks.
The olive harvest, which usually runs from autumn into November, is both a source of income and a shared tradition passed through Palestinian families. Neighbors help one another, and family gatherings in the groves sustain a custom known as ouneh. Palestinians say videos showing settlers adopting harvest rituals disregard local ownership and appropriate a tradition rooted in generations of work on the land.
A 44-year-old farmer, Ali Hassan Yusor al-Bazzari, was killed this week near the villages of Ramin and Burqa. Reuters reported that Palestinian authorities identified him as the victim of a settler attack. The Israeli military said both soldiers and settlers opened fire during the incident after a report that a Palestinian had thrown a stone at a settler. Witnesses told Al Jazeera that the army prevented ambulances from reaching the wounded.
Residents of Beit Rima also described bulldozers uprooting trees after a military order. Hazem Sanaf, 61, said more than 400 olive trees belonging to him and a neighbor were destroyed. The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission estimates that settlers and soldiers have destroyed about 50,000 trees this year. That figure is the commission’s estimate and has not been independently verified.
Yesh Din recorded an average of about 11 incidents a day during the period it reviewed. Israeli forces have previously cited security concerns when ordering trees removed. Palestinian farmers say losing groves costs them income and a family inheritance built over decades.