Palestinian farmers attacked by illegal settlers while picking olives

Palestinian farmers picking olives east of Qalqilya city in the northern West Bank were attacked by illegal Israeli Jewish settlers on Tuesday. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), two of the farmers were wounded in the attack.

The PRCS noted that the armed settlers from the Havat Gilad settlement attacked the eastern side of the village of Amatin east of Qalqilya. The settlers fired live bullets at the farmers, wounding a 49-year-old man in the head and a 45-year-old man in the thigh. The wounded farmers were transferred to Nablus Specialised Hospital, where their injuries were described as “moderate”.

Approximately 250 acres of the village land is planted with olives close to the settlements of Kedumim and Havat Gilad, putting the farmer’s lives at risk during olives harvest season. All of Israel’s settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law. This fact was reiterated by the International Court of Justice in July.

It is estimated that Palestinian farmers across the occupied West Bank have not been able to reach 20,000 acres of their land this year due to settler terrorism. This means that they expect to lose around 15 per cent of this year’s olive harvest.

READ: Israel occupation forces carry out yet more violent West Bank raids