Settlers attack olive pickers in Tulkarm, try to steal harvest gear
One settler fired live ammunition into the air during the attack, activist Manal Zaidan said, adding that such incidents keep happening in the area.
Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers picking olives in the Sahl Ramin area, east of Tulkarm, on Thursday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The settlers tried to steal harvesting equipment, olives and the sheets used for picking, WAFA reported, citing Manal Zaidan, an activist with the Palestinian Farmers Union.
Zaidan said he was working on his land when a group of armed settlers arrived in three tuk-tuk vehicles and suddenly attacked the farmers.
He said the farmers confronted the group and prevented the theft.
Zaidan said one of the settlers fired live ammunition into the air to intimidate the farmers and force them off their land.
He said such attacks are not isolated incidents and that farmers in the area are repeatedly harassed and assaulted during the olive harvest season.
He said the aim of these assaults is to drive farmers off their land and stop them from working it freely and safely.
The report did not say whether anyone was injured or whether security forces responded to the incident.
Olive harvesting is an important seasonal activity for Palestinian farming families across the occupied West Bank, and farmers have long reported settler attacks on their groves during the autumn picking period.