Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villagers across the occupied West Bank this week, storming two olive harvests on Friday — burning trees and cars and injuring at least two people, including a Washington Post photojournalist — days after a mosque was torched in the village of Mikhmas, according to Palestinian reports, medics and Reuters witnesses. Israeli settlements monitor Yesh Din says at least 170 settler attacks have been recorded since September 27, around the start of the annual olive harvest.
On Friday, about 80 masked settlers, some of them carrying gas canisters, descended from a hill onto a terraced olive grove in Abu Falah, where villagers had gathered to pick ripe fruit, Reuters witnesses reported. Settlers used slings to launch rocks toward the villagers. Partway through the attack, at least two Israeli military jeeps arrived — but the attack continued, and Israeli soldiers fired tear gas in the direction of the Palestinians. The sound of live gunfire could be heard, and a Reuters photographer saw at least one armed settler fire a gun.
Palestinian medics said two people were injured and taken to hospitals near Ramallah. One of them was Heidi Levine, a photojournalist with the Washington Post. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
“The settlers want to attack us and force us from our homes,” said Moutaz Abdelhadi, 42, a farmer who witnessed the attack in Abu Falah.
Earlier on Friday, settlers burned three cars after attacking a group of farmers harvesting olives near the village of Turmus Ayya, according to Reuters. Salah Abu Niswa, who witnessed the attack, said the settlers “snuck up like thieves, they caught someone by himself and began to beat him.”
On Wednesday, settlers set fire to a mosque, an olive tree and a vehicle in the village of Mikhmas, northeast of Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which reported that racist slogans were spray-painted on the mosque’s walls. Israeli police opened an investigation into the suspected arson and graffiti, Haaretz reported. The Israeli anti-racism organization Tag Meir condemned the attack, saying “attacks on places of worship are a red line that threatens to ignite the region” and calling on the security establishment to “bring those responsible to justice immediately.”
A harvest under threat
The olive harvest is a cherished annual tradition and a crucial source of income for West Bank families. The West Bank is home to some 500,000 settlers and at least 3 million Palestinians, according to Reuters. UN bodies and most countries deem the settlements illegal under international law regarding military occupations; Israel rejects this, viewing the territory as disputed rather than occupied.
Reuters noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized settler violence but has taken few steps to crack down on it — violence that has drawn international condemnation and sanction plans from longtime Israeli allies, including Britain.
This story is developing. Zark News will update it as more details are confirmed.
Sources: Reuters; Haaretz; Wafa; Tag Meir; Yesh Din.
