WEST BANK, (Palestine Foundation Information Center), The olive harvest season in the occupied West Bank has begun amid escalating settler attacks and growing restrictions on Palestinian farmers’ access to their land.
Nuseir Abu Thabet, director of the Settlement Observatory, said this season’s attacks have included damage to trees and property, olive theft, obstruction of access to farmland and assaults on farmers.
According to the observatory, 628 settler attacks were recorded across the West Bank in August, including 157 in Ramallah and al-Bireh and 137 in Nablus.
The observatory also documented 45,195 trees damaged or cut down during the first half of the year, including 26,395 productive olive trees.
Abu Thabet said data from the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry indicate that about 220,000 to 230,000 dunums of olive-growing land are isolated behind the separation wall or located near settlements and outposts, making access increasingly difficult for farmers.
He also referred to the martyrdom of 51-year-old Mashhour Shaher Yassin from Yasuf, east of Salfit, who succumbed to injuries sustained during a settler attack on the town.
The olive harvest is a major source of income for many Palestinian families and carries deep economic, social and cultural significance across the West Bank.
