What should have been a hallmark of the West Bank’s olive harvest in Abu Falah turned violent when dozens of masked Israeli settlers moved in on villagers picking fruit, torching trees and pelting Palestinians with stones, Reuters witnesses said.
At least two people were injured in the incident, including a journalist.
About 80 settlers, some carrying gas canisters, came down from a hill overlooking a terraced olive grove where residents of Abu Falah had assembled to gather ripe olives — an annual ritual deeply woven into Palestinian life — according to Reuters witnesses.
Taking up positions along the terraced lanes of olive trees, some settlers used slings to hurl rocks toward the Palestinian villagers. The villagers retreated down the hillside, then began throwing stones back in an effort to protect themselves.
“The settlers want to attack us and force us from our homes,” said a 42-year-old farmer who witnessed the attack in Abu Falah.
Midway through the clash, at least two Israeli military jeeps drove rapidly through the area, raising clouds of dust as villagers scrambled out of their path.
The violence did not stop after the military arrived. Instead, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas toward Palestinians who had moved to avoid the jeeps.
Reuters witnesses reported hearing live gunfire nearby, and a Reuters photographer said at least one armed settler fired a gun.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Palestinian medics said two people were wounded and taken to hospitals in the Ramallah area. One of those injured was Heidi Levine, a photojournalist with the Washington Post. The newspaper did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Settler violence surges in West Bank
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has risen sharply, with at least 170 attacks recorded since 27 September — roughly coinciding with the start of the olive harvest — according to Yesh Din, an Israeli group that monitors settlements.
Yesh Din and other observers say the settlers have been emboldened by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during whose tenure settlements and smaller outposts have expanded rapidly across the West Bank.
Mr Netanyahu has condemned the violence but has taken few steps to rein it in, even as the incidents have prompted international criticism and discussions of sanctions by longtime Israeli allies, including Britain.
The West Bank is home to around 500,000 Israeli settlers and at least three million Palestinians.
UN bodies and most countries consider the settlements illegal under international law covering military occupations. Israel disputes that characterisation, describing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.
The Abu Falah assault came after another attack earlier this morning near the village of Turmus Ayya, where settlers burned three cars after targeting farmers harvesting olives. The military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A witness to the Turmus Ayya incident said the settlers “snuck up like thieves, they caught someone by himself and began to beat him”.
