![Palestinian farmers start to harvest olives on agricultural field despite the Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the village of Madama, south of the city of Nablus, West Bank on October 03, 2024. [Issam Rimawi - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AA-20241004-35817609-35817606-OLIVE_HARVEST_SEASON_STARTS_IN_WEST_BANK.jpg?fit=1196%2C800&ssl=1)
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for international protection from settler attacks for olive farmers during the harvest season which has now started.
In a statement released yesterday, the ministry condemned the violent attacks and theft of olives by armed Jewish settler militias in various parts of the occupied West Bank. It also denounced the burning and cutting down of hundreds of olive trees, as well as the denial of access to lands, describing these actions as organised state terrorism within the framework of the occupation’s campaign of ethnic cleansing and displacement, aimed at preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The ministry added that the Israeli occupation, through its exploitation of the West Bank, land seizures and the intensification of its crime of ethnic cleansing, particularly in Area C, which makes up the majority of the occupied West Bank, seeks to deepen its annexation of the territory and entrench its apartheid system. These actions, it stated, also aim to undermine the olive harvest season, which plays a critical role in supporting the already struggling local economy.