Settlers attack Palestinian olive pickers, steal their fruits

Israeli settlers yesterday attacked Palestinian farmers as they picked their olives in the village of Salem, east of Nablus, the Palestinian Information Centre reported.

According to local sources, a group of settlers from the Alon Moreh settlement assaulted Palestinian farmers in the Khalet Al-Mousa area, north of Salem village, caused damage to the olives and stole a harvesting machine.

The olive season in the occupied West Bank has witnessed repeated attacks from settlers and Israeli occupation forces, including burning and cutting olive trees, stealing crops and preventing farmers from reaching their lands.

According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority, occupation forces and settlers have carried out 407 attacks against Palestinians since the start of the olive season in October, including 120 attacks carried out by the army and 242 others by settlers, in addition to 45 joint attacks.

These attacks ranged between violent physical attacks, during which a settler killed a Palestinian man in the town of Sebastia near Nablus, and a woman who was killed after occupation forces shot at Palestinians in the town of Faqouh in the Jenin Governorate.

Israeli attacks also included arrest campaigns, blocking traffic, preventing farmers from accessing their lands and intimidation.

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