Settler Attacks, Security Forces Accused in West Bank Harvest

Palestinian farmers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank have faced escalating harassment, blockades, arrests and violent attacks by Israeli settlers during the 2025 olive harvest, with Palestinian authorities reporting at least 158 attacks since early October — a 13% increase from the same period in 2024. A widely shared video from Turmus Ayya showed a masked man striking a 55-year-old woman identified as Um (Afaf) Abu Alia as mobs burned cars and prevented villagers from reaching their groves. U.N. observers and witnesses report arson, chain‑sawing of trees and destruction of agricultural infrastructure. Witnesses and activists say Israeli security forces have at times acquiesced to or participated in settler actions, even as the army later intervened to disperse crowds with tear gas. Many attacks go unpunished, and the violence has turned the olive harvest into a flashpoint amid expanding settlements. The incidents have prompted calls for accountability from local and international actors.