A surge in Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank has exceeded previous annual totals during the ongoing olive harvest, resulting in casualties, tree destruction, and targeted attacks on foreign diplomats and journalists.
United Nations deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq stated on Friday that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has recorded over 200 Israeli attacks against Palestinian farmers since September 1. This count eclipses the 185 attacks OCHA documented throughout the entire 2025 harvest season, despite more than a month remaining in the current harvest period. The violence has resulted in one Palestinian death, left more than 120 people injured, and damaged over 2,500 trees. On Friday alone, the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission recorded 34 Israeli attacks that wounded at least 19 individuals, followed by another 40 attacks on Saturday.
The widespread assaults and crop thefts have drawn religious endorsement from key figures. On Friday, Rabbi Dov Lior, spiritual guide to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvirās Jewish Power party, issued a religious ruling allowing settlers to seize olives from Palestinian groves, stating, "Jews are permitted to harvest olives even in areas far from Jewish settlements in order to publicly demonstrate our ownership of the land and thereby fulfill the commandment of conquering the land". Additionally, a post in a settler messaging group this week asserted, "An olive tree today is more significant in the campaign for Judea and Samaria [the occupied West Bank] than an M16 rifle."
Sarit Michaeli, formerly the international advocacy director for the Israeli human rights organization BāTselem, noted the scale of the thefts, saying, "Settlers are stealing the Palestinian olive crop on a vast scale, never seen before in my 22-year history of working on this issue."
Assaults on Foreign Press and Diplomatic Envoys
The ideologically motivated campaign has led to dozens of daily reported attacks against harvesters. On October 16, approximately 80 masked settlers armed with clubs attacked Palestinians picking olives in Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah. During the incident, 63-year-old Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine was knocked down and beaten for over 10 minutes, according to video footage and her account. Levine suffered broken ribs and required hand surgery, while her phone, camera, and passport were stolen. Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak reported that soldiers subsequently shot village council member Abdel Jaber Obeid in the thigh.
On Saturday, masked settlers carrying clubs ambushed a visiting delegation in Taybeh, east of Ramallah. The group included church representatives alongside Belgiumās consul general and French and Polish diplomats. Attackers smashed a window of a Belgian consulate vehicle and kicked and beat 78-
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