West Bank Violence Escalates: Settler Attacks Injure Palestinians, Including Children and Women

Multiple Palestinians, including four women and a child, have sustained injuries during a series of attacks by Israeli settlers across the occupied West West Bank. Farmers have also been arrested by Israeli forces amidst these escalating incidents.

In the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, six individuals were injured on Saturday when Israeli settlers attacked residents in Ma’in village, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Meanwhile, in Deir Ammar, west of Ramallah, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire on farmers engaged in olive harvesting, forcing them to abandon their land, as reported by the Palestinian news agency Wafa. In the same vicinity, two Palestinians were shot and injured by Israeli settlers.

Further incidents include Israeli forces firing on a Palestinian civilian vehicle in Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem. In Kafr Malek, northeast of Ramallah, settlers raided a farm at dawn, killing approximately 20 sheep, according to Mayor Najeh Rustum. He also noted that Israeli forces had previously raided the village, deploying tear gas that caused a fire in a house and resulting in material damage.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reported from Ramallah that settlers destroyed olive trees on the Beit Furik plain, east of Nablus, while Israeli forces arrested landowners and olive pickers. In Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah, settlers, reportedly under army protection, fired live ammunition at farmers in the al-Hariq area, preventing them from completing their olive harvest and forcing them off their land. Additionally, settlers damaged the vehicle of international activist Jonathan Budlak and threw stones at a farmer’s vehicle in the same village.

In Burqa, near Ramallah, both Israeli forces and settlers obstructed farmers from picking olives. Settlers also attacked farmers in the Wadi al-Sha’er area, southeast of Salfit.

Odeh described these events as part of a coordinated campaign, noting that settlers have become increasingly brazen, with attack campaigns being advertised on social media. She stated that over 300 documented attacks have occurred since the beginning of October, significantly impacting Palestinian farmers during a crucial harvest season. The danger, she added, stems from both settlers and soldiers, as military forces frequently intervene to protect settlers and confront Palestinians defending their land.

These attacks follow a religious edict by Rabbi Dov Lior, a prominent figure associated with Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party. Lior’s edict suggests that harvesting olives in the Holy Land is permissible and even virtuous, encouraging Jews to publicly assert land ownership and fulfill religious commandments, asserting that the land belongs to the Jewish people. Odeh further commented that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has downplayed these incidents, with no substantial action taken to halt the settler violence, suggesting that politicians allow the violence to persist for political expediency and to secure votes ahead of the October 27 elections.