TULKARM: Israeli colonists attacked Palestinian farmers on Thursday morning while they were picking olives in their lands in the village of Shofa, southeast of Tulkarm. Farmer Tahseen Hamed reported that a group of colonists, accompanied by police dogs, came from the Avnei Hefetz colony, built on the town’s lands, and attacked them while they were picking olives. They seized the olives, expelled the farmers from their lands, and threatened them at gunpoint not to return.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, the Israeli occupation soldiers also expelled a number of farmers and their families from the town of Kafr al-Labad, east of Tulkarm, while they were on their lands to pick olives in the Ard al-Sawame area, west of the Anab colony. Farmer Mohammad Abdullah Rajab recounted that the occupation soldiers stormed the area, forced them to leave their lands, prevented them from picking olives, and assaulted farmer Ahmad Muhannad Fuqaha, leaving him with bruises. Fuqaha was taken to the town
‘s clinic for treatment.
Rajab added that they were shocked to discover that more than 100 old and perennial olive trees had been cut down. These trees belonged to him and several other local farmers. He explained that they had returned to their lands in the aforementioned area after a year of being unable to reach them to pick olives, due to Israeli restrictions and the establishment of a military tower nearby. Despite these challenges, the occupation forces attacked them and expelled them from their lands once again.
According to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission, the occupation forces and settlers have conducted over 253 attacks since the beginning of the olive harvest season. This includes 184 attacks in the northern West Bank, with 113 concentrated in the Nablus Governorate.