Olive harvesting on the West Bank is marred by attacks

During the olive harvesting period in the villages around Nablus, including Beita, Beit Imrin, Sebastia, and Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya, as well as in the Ramallah area, numerous incidents and clashes were recorded. In Beita, Beit Imrin, Sebastia, and Al-Lubban, settlers attacked Palestinians directly during the harvesting of olives, and near Ramallah, they burned journalists' car.

In the village of Burka (northwest of Nablus) and on the neighboring Ramin plain, an attack on private land involving the use of firearms resulted in the death of 44-year-old Ali Hassan Bazzari, a father of four who served in the Palestinian security forces and volunteered with the local committee. Another nine people were injured. Eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims reported the arrival of groups of settlers, acts of violence, and the subsequent intervention of Israeli forces, after which the injured Bazzari could not receive timely medical assistance.

As local observers note, following the cancellation of work permits inside Israel after October 2023, for the residents of these areas, olive harvesting remained the only chance to obtain additional income to sustain their lives. The harvesting season in the West Bank has been disrupted for the fourth consecutive year. The situation is aggravated by the appearance of more than 150 new settler outposts on Palestinian lands since October 2023, with the Israeli government legalizing dozens of them, while the total area of confiscated land in the region has exceeded 64,000 dunams (6,400 hectares).