West Bank Harvest Season Becomes Battlefield: 19 Settler Attacks in One Day, Israeli Army Simultaneously Arrests 16

The most important olive harvest season of the year in the West Bank is being torn apart simultaneously by settler violence and Israeli military raids. According to an Al Jazeera report on Friday (October 9), the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission under the Palestine Liberation Organization recorded at least 19 settler attacks in a single day, targeting Palestinian pickers, olive trees and livestock; on the same day, the Israeli army arrested 16 Palestinians in raids across the West Bank.

Incidents listed by the Commission that day include: more than 50 olive trees uprooted in the village of Kusra; Palestinian farmers attacked and injured in the village of Tall, with their vehicle set ablaze; in Deir Balut, organized settler-led violence reportedly backed by the Israeli army, during which live ammunition was used; in Kafr Dik, a farmer was injured in a reported shooting. (These two incidents involving live fire and shooting currently rely only on the Commission's account; no Israeli response was seen in the Al Jazeera report.) In the village of Bilin east of Hebron, settlers set dogs on pickers, injuring an elderly Palestinian woman; a flock of sheep was seized in Ein Qinya; a Palestinian man and his son were attacked in Yabrud and their vehicle was taken. Attacks on pickers or damage to Palestinian vehicles were also recorded in Yaris, Beita, Naqura, Birzeit, Deir Bzeh, Farata, Sarda, Rihan and other locations.

Reporting from Ramallah, Al Jazeera correspondent Nida Ibrahim described a now-routine rhythm of attacks: Palestinians are forced to form large groups and enter picking areas accompanied by international solidarity activists in an attempt to deter intimidation; but once they finish work and the groups begin to disperse and leave, settlers seize the moment to strike.

"Palestinians have to form large groups and enter the picking areas with international solidarity activists in an attempt to deter settler intimidation and attacks," Ibrahim said, "and when Palestinians try to leave the picking areas, the settlers continue to press them under the protection of the Israeli army — it is an extremely difficult journey."

Ibrahim noted that recent settler practices also include establishing a new illegal outpost settlement around Ramallah and using it "as a base for attacking Palestinians." "No one is spared."

Running in tandem with the settler actions is a wave of Israeli army arrests. According to the Palestinian Wafa news agency and local sources cited by the Turkish Anadolu Agency, 16 people were arrested in Israeli army raids; nine in Hebron governorate, including Ibrahimi Mosque director Mu'taz Abu Sneina and the official responsible for mosque administration, Hamam Abu Marhiya; five were arrested in raids in the city of Qalqilya; a further two were arrested in the town of Beita south of Nablus. (These figures are provided by Wafa and Anadolu sources; no Israeli army confirmation was seen in the Al Jazeera report.)

The harvest season is meant to be the most symbolically significant agricultural activity of the year for Palestinian families. Now it leaves behind picking under armed escort, gunfire on the evacuation route, and olive trees ripped from the ground.