Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers during the annual olive harvest near the village of Abu Falah in the occupied West Bank, injuring civilians and setting fire to olive trees and vehicles, according to people at the scene and a local official.
Witnesses described masked settlers in black moving down from a hilltop near an outpost toward farmland where families were picking olives. Accounts of the group’s size differ: some described about a dozen attackers; others spoke of dozens. Settlers hurled stones from slingshots, burned roughly a dozen trees in one assault witnessed by journalists, and, in related violence that morning, set fire to cars—three vehicles, according to a man ferrying the wounded.
Injuries and what witnesses described
Yaser AlKam, a council member from neighbouring Turmus Aya, said the attacks injured 12 Palestinians, including four dual Palestinian-American citizens. A foreign journalist was also among those hurt.
Majdi Fheed, an American citizen, was seen with a bloodied face leaving the area. He said nearly 15 attackers struck with guns, rocks and other weapons, hitting his head and neck. AlKam said Majdi was beaten with nail-studded sticks and needed treatment for deep head wounds; his elderly mother was also injured. A woman with the injured said settlers came as soon as harvesters put down their tools, forcing people to flee.
Photographer Heidi Levine, who was present, was taken to hospital. She told reporters she “got jumped” and described being kicked on the ground.
Why the harvest has become a race against time
Olive picking in this part of the West Bank has become a race at dawn: farmers strip trees quickly before settlers arrive. In a nearby orchard, landowner Amin Khalil said three villages had joined to harvest together for safety. He said his land is surrounded by seven settlements and outposts. Even so, settlers later moved downhill and set more trees alight, with shouts for children to leave the field.
All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are illegal under international law. Outposts—small hilltop encampments—are also illegal under Israeli law, though many still receive state support.
Imm Khaldoun, 73, watching vehicles carry the wounded, said she would keep returning: “This is my land. It’s my right [to be here].”
UN warning and US response
The United Nations says the past two weeks have already seen more attacks by violent Israeli settlers than during the entire olive harvest last year, and that settler violence this year has reached an all-time high.
Asked about the violence, a US State Department spokesperson said Washington was aware of the reports, condemned “criminal violence by any party in the West Bank,” and called for investigations, arrests and convictions of those responsible.
Aasan alfaaz mein
West Bank mein olive torte waqt Israeli settlers ne Palestinian kisanon par hamla kiya. Ped aur gaariyan jala di gayi, aur local official ke mutabiq 12 log zakhmi hue. UN kehti hai ke is saal settler violence pehle se zyada hai. Mamooli logon ke liye yeh un ki zameen, fasal aur rozmarra ki hifazat ka masla hai.
