Settlers Attack Palestinian Olive Harvesters

Video and witness accounts from the occupied West Bank show masked Israeli settlers assaulting Palestinian olive harvesters in Turmus Ayya, al-Mughayyir and Taybeh, leaving a 55-year-old woman unconscious and hospitalized. Journalists and activists filmed settlers torching vehicles and damaging or uprooting hundreds of olive trees during the harvest. UN and Palestinian Authority monitors report a sharp rise in settler violence this year: the UN documented a 13% increase in attacks in the first half of 2025, while PA trackers recorded more than 150 attacks and over 700 trees harmed in the first week of the harvest. Witnesses say Israeli soldiers were present in some incidents but failed to protect farmers. Rights groups and critics link the surge to settlement and outpost expansion and warn the escalation threatens Palestinian livelihoods, food security and reflects concerns about settler impunity.