Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive pickers in the Khallat Abu Huwan area of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on Tuesday. Local sources told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that the assailants forced farmers off their land after stealing harvest equipment and mats.
In the nearby village of Salem, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at farmers gathering their olive harvest to stop them from working. An Anadolu correspondent reported that the chemical munitions caused a fire that burned several olive trees.
Nablus municipal firefighting crews intervened to extinguish the blaze. Two Palestinian men suffered injuries after being beaten by Israeli settlers while picking olives north of Ramallah, local sources told Anadolu.
The assault occurred in the Wadi al-Zaytoun area near the Ein Siniya military checkpoint. The attackers also seized the keys to a vehicle belonging to the victims.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that its medical teams in Ramallah treated the two injured men. Paramedics transferred both patients to a hospital for care.
In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces arrested Palestinian farmer Bader Mohammed al-Adra. Troops detained him while he plowed his farmland in the Deirat area, east of Yatta, south of Hebron.
The Al-Baidar human rights organisation confirmed the arrest in a statement. Palestinian farmers in areas east of Yatta endure frequent harassment and restrictions that block access to their land, the group said.
Targeting agricultural workers threatens their livelihoods and separates them from their property. The organisation classified the detention as a violation of the right to work and called for the immediate release of al-Adra.
The group urged local and international rights organisations to monitor conditions in the Deirat area and document violations. Violence by the Israeli army and settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank has escalated since October 2023.
These violations encompass killings, arrests, home demolitions, arson, and the destruction of agricultural land. Palestinians warn that these actions advance the formal annexation of the West Bank and block the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
