Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmers amid West Bank olive harvest
Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian olive harvesters and activists this week in the occupied West Bank, beating them with clubs in an incident that left at least one woman hospitalized with serious injuries, Palestinian health officials said.
The attack occurred Sunday in the town of Turmus Ayya and was captured in videos obtained by The Associated Press. Palestinians say such violence by settlers has been increasing, particularly during the olive harvest season, putting farmers at heightened risk. The United Nations and rights groups have repeatedly warned of the rising threats.
“Settler violence has skyrocketed in scale and frequency,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the U.N. Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territory, in a statement Tuesday. “Two weeks into the 2025 harvest, we have already seen severe attacks by armed settlers against Palestinian men, women, children and foreign solidarity activists.”
In one video, a masked man, apparently wearing tzitzit, a Jewish ritual fringed garment, was seen running through an olive grove and striking at least two people, including a woman lying motionless on the ground. The woman was later hospitalized with serious injuries, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Other footage showed more than a dozen masked men chasing a car along a village road, with one settler striking the vehicle and opening its door, while a passenger managed to escape. A separate video captured flames and smoke rising from several torched cars.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the head of the West Bank police force described the footage of the masked settler attacking the woman as “keeping him up at night” and instructed officers to bring the assailant to justice. Israel’s military and police did not respond to AP’s requests for comment.
Turmus Ayya, predominantly Palestinian-American, has long been a target of settler violence, which villagers say has intensified during the Israel-Hamas war. The town lies in a valley surrounded by Israeli settlements and outposts. Tensions escalated after the killing of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Amer Rabee by Israeli forces in April, triggering repeated clashes between residents and settlers.
Settler attacks across the West Bank are rising. The U.N. reports that the first half of 2025 saw 757 incidents causing injuries or property damage, a 13% increase compared with the same period last year. During the first week of the olive harvest, over 150 attacks were recorded, and more than 700 olive trees were uprooted, broken, or poisoned, according to Muayyad Shaaban, who heads a Palestinian Authority office monitoring the violence.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek these territories for a future independent state, while settler advocates occupy key Israeli Cabinet positions, giving them significant influence over the West Bank.