West Bank: Palestinians report 19 settler attacks on olive harvest in one day
Trees uprooted, farmers injured, cars set alight: the olive harvest is again a flashpoint. Israel's defence minister wants to keep activists away from the groves, according to the settler council.
Symbolic image · Photo: Orrling / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped and resized)
In the occupied West Bank, the olive harvest is again overshadowed by violence. A Palestinian body counted at least 19 attacks by Israeli settlers on harvesters, trees, livestock and vehicles on Friday, Al Jazeera reported. More than 50 olive trees were uprooted in Qusra, and in Tal farmers were injured and a car set on fire. In Kafr ad-Dik a farmer was reportedly wounded by gunfire, and in Berin east of Hebron an elderly woman was injured after settlers set dogs on farmers.
The Israeli organisation Yesh Din recorded 109 alleged attacks by settlers and soldiers in 75 communities between 27 September and 6 October. In 28 cases, soldiers were filmed or photographed at the scene. According to Palestinian sources, Israeli forces also arrested 16 Palestinians on Friday, including the director of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
According to the Yesha settler council, Defence Minister Israel Katz has moved to issue exclusion orders against activists who help Palestinian farmers with the harvest. His office did not initially confirm this. In January, the Supreme Court ruled that such orders are only permissible with concrete evidence of a near-certain threat to public order.