Israeli settler violence sweeps West Bank amid olive harvest 

Army-backed Israeli settlers carried out a series of assaults on Palestinians and olive pickers across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, amid an escalating wave of settler violence.

In the town of Atara, north of Ramallah, residents woke on Wednesday to find two vehicles torched and racist slogans spray-painted on a home.

Mayor Nizar Moghrabi told Middle East Eye that settlers infiltrated the Turfin area after midnight, set fire to the vehicles and scrawled threatening messages on a house wall.

“We don’t know how many settlers there were or where they came from, but they managed to reach homes in the village and burn the vehicles,” he said.

Last August, settlers established their first outpost on Atara’s land, placing mobile homes in the Turfin area, from which they have since launched repeated attacks on Palestinian homes.

According to Moghrabi, since the outpost’s establishment, the town has faced multiple assaults, including vehicle arson and the smashing of windows, aimed at forcing residents to leave the area.

“We don’t know if the Israeli army was aware of the attack,” he added, “but even if it was, it’s the same army that protects them.”

In Hebron, settlers infiltrated the town of Surif, setting fire to two vehicles and spray-painting slogans calling for revenge against Palestinians.

Elsewhere, settlers cut down olive saplings and stole construction materials - including bags of cement - from farmland in Beit Imrin, north of Nablus, on Wednesday morning.

Olive harvest assaults 

Elsewhere, settlers have continued their attacks on olive pickers amid the ongoing harvest season.

Israeli settlers routinely assault Palestinians and damage their groves during the olive harvest, which runs from October to December. However, this year’s attacks have been notably more frequent and violent than in previous years.

In the town of al-Sawiya, south of Nablus, settlers attacked Palestinians early on Wednesday as they attempted to reach their land to harvest olives, preventing them from accessing their groves and threatening them with weapons and iron bars.

In nearby Qaryut, the Israeli army granted Palestinians access to an area they had previously been barred from. When they arrived, they found most of their olive trees had already been destroyed by settlers.

'Residents can’t reach [the olive trees] and face attacks from settlers whenever they try'

- Talaat Hamed, resident of Silwad

In Turmusaya, north of Ramallah and al-Bireh, settlers set fire to farmers’ lands and olive trees on Wednesday.

In Silwad, east of Ramallah, Palestinians organised an event to reach lands the Israeli army has prohibited them from accessing since October 2023. 

During the event, settlers attacked residents and activists, blocking their path to the olive trees. The Israeli army later arrived and sided with the settlers.

Talaat Hamed, a resident of Silwad, told MEE that the lands in question cover hundreds of dunams west of the town and had long been cultivated by residents.

In October 2023, the Israeli army issued an order barring Palestinians from accessing the area, claiming it was too close to nearby settlements - effectively creating a buffer zone.

“These lands are owned by many Palestinians and are full of olive trees,” Hamed said. “Now, residents can’t reach them and face attacks from settlers whenever they try.”

Over the past two years, residents have observed settlers bringing mobile homes into the area to establish a pastoral outpost and grazing their cattle there - a first step towards taking full control of the land, Hamed explained. 

“Even before the olive harvest began, residents tried to reach their lands to plough them, but they were brutally attacked by settlers, and several people were injured,” he added.

Surging settler violence 

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), 259 attacks on olive harvesters in the occupied West Bank have been recorded since the start of the harvest season in early October. Of these, 41 were carried out by the Israeli army and 218 by settlers.

The attacks included restrictions on movement, the prevention of access to farmland, beatings, and direct gunfire. Most incidents were concentrated in Ramallah (83 attacks), Nablus (69), and Hebron (34).

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said it documented 89 attacks affecting 50 villages and towns since early October. The attacks injured 112 Palestinians and resulted in the vandalism of more than 3,000 trees and saplings.

Israeli settler gangs harass and intimidate Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest in the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah. pic.twitter.com/J1DVXiMffm

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 29, 2025

Ocha noted that settler-related violence during olive harvest season has steadily increased over the past five years.

In 2024, more than 200 attacks were recorded - almost twice as many as in 2023 and more than three times the number documented in 2022.

The CWRC also reported that settlers have carried out 7,154 attacks against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank since 7 October 2023.

During the same period, Israel has confiscated more than 55,000 dunams of land under various pretexts, including “military or security purposes”, “state ownership”, “infrastructure development” and the creation of “buffer zones”.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army carried out mass arrests across the West Bank in pre-dawn raids on Wednesday, detaining at least 40 people.