Resistance to the wall and settlements: 21 attacks on olive pickers

Ramallah - Ofoq News - Today, Friday, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee monitored 21 attacks carried out by the Israeli occupation forces and settlers against olive pickers and their lands in six governorates in the West Bank, within 12 hours, from six in the morning until six in the evening.

The authority explained that the attacks included shooting bullets, assaulting and injuring farmers, burning and cutting down olive trees, stealing crops, and preventing citizens from reaching their lands or forcing them to leave them at gunpoint.

In Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, settlers burned and cut down dozens of fruit-bearing olive trees in the Al-Qibla area in the village of Barqa, while they attacked olive pickers in Sinjil, Turmus Ayya, and Marj Sai, stole olives from lands in Silwad, and released their livestock onto agricultural lands in Kafr Malek.

In Nablus Governorate, three farmers, including a 17-year-old child, were injured as a result of a settler attack with stones on olive pickers in the town of Burin, and cases of suffocation were reported. Settlers fired bullets to force farmers to leave their lands in Osrin, while gas bombs fired by the occupation forces caused trees to catch fire in Salem and Beit Furik plains.

The attacks also included the towns of Al-Lubban Al-Sharqiya, Qaryut, Asira Al-Shamaliah, and Jama'in, in addition to the theft of olive fruits from the lands between Talfit and Jalud.

In Bethlehem, the occupation forces detained members of the Al-Qassas family on their land near the “Eliezer” settlement, forced them at gunpoint to leave, and threatened them with arrest if they returned to pick olives. Foreign farmers and activists were also forced to leave Wadi Abu Najim, and settlers released their livestock onto the lands of the village of Al-Minya, destroying trees.

In Salfit, settlers, protected by the occupation forces, pursued olive pickers and foreign activists in the Wadi Yasuf area and threatened them to force them to leave. As for Jenin, the occupation forces closed the iron gates leading to the eastern villages, and prevented farmers in Barta'a from reaching their isolated lands behind the apartheid wall.

In Qalqilya, the occupation forces forcefully forced farmers to leave their lands, detained olive pickers in the mountain area in the town of Kafr Qaddum, and prevented farmers in the village of Imatin from completing the harvest.

The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission confirmed that the escalating attacks are no longer limited to disrupting the olive season, but rather include destroying trees, stealing crops, and depriving farmers of access to their lands, threatening their ability to invest and preserve them.

The Commission called on the international community to take effective measures to stop the attacks and provide protection for Palestinian farmers.