Israeli forces, settlers prevent Palestinian farmers from picking olives in Hebron

Israeli occupation forces and Jewish settlers have prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing their lands and harvesting olives in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood of Hebron, located in the southern occupied West Bank, Anadolu reported.

Coordinator of the Hebron Human Rights Defenders Association, Imad Abu Shamsiya, told the news agency that Israeli occupation forces confiscated olive harvests from the Quneibi family and forced them to leave their land, even though the family had obtained permission to access their land and harvest olives.

Last Sunday, the Palestinian Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said the Israeli occupation army and illegal settlers carried out 1,490 attacks in various areas of the occupied West Bank during October.

The attacks included armed attacks on Palestinian villages, field executions, vandalism, land levelling, uprooting trees, seizing property, closures and setting up checkpoints.

“Settler attacks also resulted in the uprooting of 1,401 trees, including 1,339 olive trees,” according to the statement.

The attacks on trees included 740 uprooted trees in Hebron, 193 in Nablus, 178 in Ramallah, 160 in Bethlehem, 100 in Salfit and 30 in Qalqilya.

In May, the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem revealed a plan by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that aims to “displace Palestinian citizens and shepherds from their lands in the West Bank, in cooperation with settlers.” B’Tselem considered the plan “part of the Israeli apartheid system.”

According to Israeli estimates, more than 720,000 settlers live in settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All settlements and settler outposts are illegal under international law.

Israeli, international and Palestinian reports have indicated an increase in the pace of settlement construction in the Palestinian territories since the formation of the current right-wing government at the end of 2022.

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