Ahmad Salem, a Palestinian resident of the village of Luban al-Gharbi, recalls with tears how Israeli settlers attacked his olive trees with sticks and stole the olives. He refrained from taking any action out of fear of retaliation if he intervened.
Increase in Violence and Theft During Olive Harvest Season
For decades, Israeli settlers have pressured Palestinians during their olive harvests in the West Bank, but according to Palestinians, human rights groups, and the United Nations, this year has witnessed a sharp increase in violence and olive thefts. Salem stated that about two weeks ago, settlers bagged his olives and transferred them to a nearby settlement outpost to be turned into olive oil.
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Salem, 50, reminiscing about the past, said: "My six-year-old son remembers going there with me, eating there, and making tea." He also added that with the increase in the number of settlement outposts, especially under Benjamin Netanyahu's government since 2022, the Israeli army has increasingly restricted Palestinians' access to areas near these outposts and olive groves.
The Impact of Israeli Elections on Violence
Attacks by settlers have intensified ahead of the Israeli elections taking place next week. Polls indicate that Netanyahu and the settler-supporting coalition may face defeat against their opponents who have criticized settler violence. According to the human rights group "Yesh Din," in the 24 days since the start of the olive harvest season, there have been 125 physical attacks on Palestinians and 168 cases of crop theft reported.
An Israeli military official stated that the country is taking strong measures against acts of violence and criminal activities, but did not specifically mention the issue of olive thefts by settlers. At the same time, this official referred to actions taken to prevent attacks by Palestinians, including the destruction of trees using bulldozers.
Reactions to the theft of Palestinian olives among Israeli clerics vary. Zeewitman, a cleric based in the settlement of Alon Shvut, called these thefts robbery, saying: "In my view, this is theft or robbery and is prohibited." In contrast, Dov Lior, a prominent Orthodox cleric, believes that settlers should harvest olives from all over the West Bank and claims that Palestinians have no ownership rights over these lands.
The Israeli government is seriously considering the issue of annexing land in the West Bank, and during the olive harvest season, three Palestinians have been killed by settlers, and several European journalists and diplomats have also been injured. Ziv Stahl, executive director of the human rights group Yesh Din, considers this violence part of an ethnic cleansing campaign aimed at annexing the West Bank without a Palestinian population.
Meanwhile, Palestinian officials state that the theft of olives from trees on confiscated land is clearly theft. While most countries and international organizations consider Israeli settlements in occupied territories illegal, Israel has rejected this claim and refers to the land as disputed territory.
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