Settlers and troops attack olive harvesters in seven West Bank areas

Israeli forces and settlers carried out 16 attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters and their land across seven West Bank governorates on Tuesday, the Wall and Colonization Resistance Commission said.

The commission documented the incidents between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Farmers were shot at with live ammunition, and others were beaten or hit with tear gas canisters, causing injuries, the commission said.

Several harvesters were also detained.

Other incidents involved setting fire to an agricultural structure, stealing crops and harvesting equipment, leveling land and uprooting olive trees, the commission added.

Residents were also prevented from reaching their land, and the commission said some of these measures were carried out under the military protection of the settlers.

The commission said the tactics have shifted from intimidation and denial of access to land toward live fire, physical assaults and mass detentions during the harvest.

It warned that this pattern could turn the denial of the olive harvest into long-term displacement from agricultural land.

The commission called on the international community to intervene immediately, halt the attacks by occupation forces and settlers, and hold those responsible to account for shootings, assaults and the destruction of farm property.

The olive harvest runs through the autumn and is an important source of income and food for many Palestinian families in the West Bank.

Attacks on farmers during the harvest have been reported in previous years, and the issue has drawn repeated concern from rights groups and United Nations bodies.