Olive harvests under attack as settlers target Palestinian farmers in West Bank

Palestinian farmers face beatings, theft, and military blockades across the occupied West Bank as settlers launch early attacks on olive groves. At the same time, Israeli strikes in Gaza continue to break a year-old ceasefire, pushing the territory’s health system closer to collapse ahead of winter.

Violence erupted on October 3 in Jabal Qamas, near Nablus, when settlers from the illegal Mevaser Shalom outpost attacked a harvesting family. Hussam Adily remains in critical condition, and his brother and mother were also injured. Similar assaults spread to villages including Rantis, Sebastia, and Beit Imrin, where farmers were pepper-sprayed, struck with sticks, and run over by vehicles. Several victims required hospital treatment.

Settlers destroyed property and seized equipment across multiple areas. Near Abu Dis, they torched roughly 55 olive trees and burned a fresh harvest. In Sinjil, thefts of olives, ladders, and tarps have occurred nearly every day for more than a week. In Beita, soldiers forced international volunteers away at gunpoint and assaulted journalists after halting a harvest following a settler arrival.

Israeli forces also restricted access to farmland. Soldiers turned farmers away from their own plots in Deir Istiya, Farkha, and Silwan, sometimes confiscating identification cards and tools. The army called off a harvest in Beita for the fourth time that weekend, citing security concerns in an area outside its direct jurisdiction.

At least two Palestinians were killed in separate incidents within 24 hours. Mashhour Yassin, 51, died on October 1 in Yasouf after settlers stormed homes. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry reported that soldiers seized the keys to his ambulance and threw them away, delaying his evacuation. The next day, 19-year-old Bahaa al-Natsheh was shot dead near an illegal outpost outside Kobar, and authorities have withheld his body. A 45-year-old man also died of cardiac arrest while detained at a checkpoint east of Tulkarem.

In Gaza, the death toll since the truce began rose from 1,422 on September 29 to 1,460 by October 5. The cumulative death count since October 2023 now stands at 74,243, following the addition of 181 previously unverified deaths this week. Israeli strikes killed five people, including a mother and daughter, when they hit the al-Asala building in Gaza City on October 3. A drone attack on a passenger van in Tal al-Hawa on September 30 killed six people, including Ammar al-Sharafi. A man died when a strike hit his tent in al-Mawasi on October 1.

Other casualties included a six-year-old girl reportedly shot by troops in Deir el-Balah on October 4, and journalist Muhammad al-Najjar, who was killed on September 30. Israel continues to demolish damaged structures in eastern Gaza City. Satellite data shows roughly 200,000 damaged buildings across the territory. Hundreds gathered for a mass funeral to honor 105 people recovered from rubble left by October 2023 bombings.

Political developments unfolded alongside the violence. Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously reinstated the United Arab List and Joint List to the October 27 ballot after an election commission attempted to ban them. The court also voted 7-2 to reinstate lawmaker Ofer Cassif. Meanwhile, the election commission fined National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir for using access to a Hamas prisoner in a campaign video.

President Isaac Herzog criticized the government, stating politicians “have not done everything” to stop settler attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously dismissed a settler assault on Jalud as the work of a “small number” of rioters. Internationally, the United Kingdom confirmed it has suspended or rejected more than 80 arms export licenses to Israel since 2024, while Israel demanded the UK close its consulate in occupied East Jerusalem by October 8. Reports indicate the Trump administration is considering sanctions against Israeli military units but is waiting until after the October election and US midterms in November.