Nablus: Israeli colonists attacked Palestinians harvesting olives in the village of Burin, south of Nablus. Local sources reported that the incident occurred on Saturday when a guard from the Yitzhar settlement, accompanied by colonists, confronted the Palestinians as they were picking olives on land situated between Burin and Huwara. The colonists assaulted several harvesters, forced them to leave the area, and scattered the olives they had gathered.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA, the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission highlighted that since the start of the olive harvest season in early October, there have been a total of 259 attacks by the Israeli army and colonists against olive harvesters up until the 28th of the month. The Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs further detailed in a press release that their teams documented 41 attacks by the Israeli army and 218 by colonists. These incidents included violent physical assaults, arrest campaigns, movement and access restrictions, intimidation, and harassment, with reports of direct gunfire noted in the Tubas Governorate.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported a significant escalation in violence, noting that this year’s olive harvest season in the West Bank has experienced the highest level of colonist attacks in five years.