Settlers steal olives in Yatta as Israeli forces hold drills
Israeli forces also declared part of Masafer Yatta a closed military zone during drills there.
Settlers stole olives from land in the southern West Bank town of Yatta on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Anti-settlement activist Osama Makhamreh told WAFA that settlers raided the Khallet al-Hums area and took olives from a farm owned by local resident Ya'qub Ubaid al-Masri.
In a separate incident, Israeli forces held drills using tracked vehicles and troop carriers in Khirbet al-Fakhit, a locality in Masafer Yatta, and barred residents from the area.
The forces then declared the area a closed military zone, preventing residents from reaching their land.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said it documented 674 attacks by Israeli forces and settlers against olive trees and farmers between Oct. 1 and Nov. 6.
The commission said 520 of those attacks were carried out by settlers and 154 by Israeli forces.
It reported that the attacks included 91 incidents of olive theft, damage to about 2,974 trees and assaults on farmers, as well as blocking farmers from their land.
The Hebron Governorate recorded 87 of the attacks in the same period, the commission said.
The olive harvest runs through autumn and is an important source of income for many Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian groups have repeatedly raised concerns about settler violence during the harvest season, when farmers often work on land near settlements.