UPDATE – 10 Palestinians injured in illegal Israeli settler attacks in West Bank

UPDATES WITH MORE INJURIES, REVISES HEADLINE, DECK

By Aysar Alais, Mohammad Sio and Rania Abu Shamala

RAMALLAH, Palestine/ISTANBUL (AA) – Ten Palestinians were injured on Saturday after being attacked by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, local media said.

Armed settlers assaulted olive pickers with sticks and dogs in the Wadi al-Hajj Issa area of Aqraba in southern Nablus, injuring three and forcing farmers to flee their lands, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

In the nearby town of Duma, Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinians from accessing their olive groves, according to the head of the village council, Suleiman Dawabsha. He said illegal settlers have repeatedly attacked local farmers, stealing olives, vandalizing trees, and grazing livestock on private lands.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that a group of armed settlers, backed by Israeli forces, attacked family members with sticks and stones, injuring seven Palestinians, including women, in the village of Deir Nidham, northwest of Ramallah in the central West Bank.

After the attack, Israeli forces closed the only entrance to the village, preventing residents from entering or leaving, and arrested a young man, witnesses said.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers have carried out more than 7,000 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023. These include 158 assaults targeting olive pickers since the beginning of this month.

Commission head Muayyad Shaaban said in an Oct. 21 statement that this year’s olive harvest has been “the hardest in decades,” citing widespread Israeli restrictions designating farmlands as “closed military zones.”

The olive harvest is a vital source of income for thousands of Palestinian families. According to the Agriculture Ministry, this year’s yield is among the weakest in decades, with production estimated at only 15% of the average level.

The ministry said Palestine produced about 27,300 tons of olive oil in 2024, up from just 10,000 tons in 2023.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.