Israeli occupiers injure 16 Palestinians, burn 55 olive trees in West Bank

At least 16 Palestinians, including a woman, were injured and 55 olive trees were burned Saturday in attacks by Israeli occupiers on olive harvesters across the occupied West Bank, according to medical and local sources.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said five Palestinians were beaten by occupiers while picking up olives in a field in Sebastia, north of Nablus.

The society also said three Palestinians were injured in an occupier assault in Asira al-Qibliya, south of Nablus, while two others were injured after being sprayed with pepper spray in nearby Beit Imrin.

A farmer also suffered bruises after occupiers attacked him while he was harvesting olives in Arrabuna, east of Jenin, the same source said.

In Rantis, northwest of Ramallah, occupiers attacked a man, his wife and their children with sticks, weapons and pepper spray in the village’s Al-Tin al-Shami area, injuring five family members, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The wife was also run over during the attack, according to the agency.

Meanwhile, occupiers burned about 55 olive trees more than 40 years old on Palestinian land in the wilderness area of Abu Dis, southeast of Jerusalem, Wafa said.

The attack took place as a Palestinian farmer was harvesting olives with his wife, children and grandchildren, the agency said.

Occupiers also assaulted Palestinian farmers harvesting olives east of Qalqilya in an attempt to prevent them from reaching their land and force them to leave, according to local sources.

The olive harvest typically begins in early October and continues through late November, making it one of the most important agricultural and economic seasons in Palestinian towns and villages.

The season is accompanied by increased occupier attacks and Israeli restrictions on farmers’ access to their land, including beatings, blocked access to fields, crop theft and the uprooting or destruction of trees.

According to the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, more than 45,000 trees were cut down or damaged in the West Bank during the first half of 2026, including more than 26,000 olive trees.

Figures released by the commission Friday showed that occupiers carried out 647 attacks across the West Bank in September, killing three Palestinians.

About 750,000 Israeli occupiers live in 194 illegal settlements and 400 settlement outposts across the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, according to official Palestinian figures.

The UN has repeatedly affirmed that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories are illegal under international law, warning that they undermine prospects for a two-state solution.