Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in West Bank olive harvest as UN warns of record violence

The BBC has witnessed Israeli settlers attack Palestinians and set fire to olive trees in the occupied West Bank, in a fresh incident during the annual harvest. About a dozen settlers dressed in black charged down a hill from an outpost toward a field where Palestinians and activists were picking olives. They torched about a dozen trees and hurled stones from slingshots, according to the report.

A Washington Post photographer at the scene, Heidi Levine, was taken to hospital after the attack. She told reporters she had been "jumped" and described being kicked while on the ground. The report also says the United Nations has recorded more attacks by violent Israeli settlers in the past two weeks than during the entire harvest season last year, and says settler violence has reached an all-time high this year.

The incident adds to mounting concern over violence during the olive harvest, which is a key economic and cultural period for many Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank. The harvest often brings farmers into areas close to settlements and outposts, where tensions can quickly escalate. The report identifies the outpost as illegal under international law, underscoring the legal and political sensitivity of the land where the attack took place.

Settler violence in the West Bank has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but the latest UN assessment suggests the scale of attacks this season is unusually high. The West Bank is home to about 500,000 settlers and at least three million Palestinians, and the status of settlements remains disputed internationally. Repeated attacks on harvesters can damage livelihoods, restrict access to groves and deepen insecurity in rural communities.

The report does not say whether anyone was detained or whether the Israeli military opened an inquiry into the attack. It also does not clarify whether any other people were injured beyond the photographer taken to hospital. The situation is likely to remain under scrutiny as the olive harvest continues and as pressure grows for a response to repeated attacks in the territory.

Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians during the annual olive harvest near the West Bank village of Abu Falah on Friday, burning trees and throwing rocks at people gathered in the grove. At least two people were injured in the incident, including a journalist, according to Palestinian medics. Witnesses said the attack unfolded on terraced land above the village, where residents had gathered to pick ripe fruit.

According to witnesses, about 80 settlers descended from a hill above the grove, with some carrying gas canisters and using slings to launch stones. Palestinians moved down the slope and threw stones back as the confrontation escalated. A farmer who saw the attack said the settlers wanted to drive residents from their homes.

The attack continued after Israeli military jeeps arrived, and soldiers fired tear gas in the direction of Palestinians who had moved away from the vehicles. The injured were taken to hospitals in the Ramallah area, medics said. One of those hurt was Heidi Levine, a photojournalist with the Washington Post.

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The newspaper had not immediately commented, and the Israeli military also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Reuters photographer at the scene reported hearing live gunfire, and saw at least one armed settler fire a gun. The account has not been independently verified by the military.

The violence comes amid a sharp rise in settler attacks in the occupied West Bank during the olive harvest, a period that is economically and culturally important for many Palestinian families. Yesh Din, an Israeli settlements monitoring group, said there had been at least 170 attacks since 27 September, around the start of the harvest season. The timing matters because the olive crop is a key source of income, and repeated attacks can disrupt access to groves, damage trees and deepen insecurity in rural communities.

The West Bank is home to about 500,000 settlers and at least three million Palestinians. Most countries and UN bodies regard the settlements as illegal under international law, and the issue remains one of the most sensitive in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised settler violence, but there have been few visible steps to curb incidents that have drawn international condemnation and sanctions planning by some of Israel's allies.

What remains unclear is whether anyone has been detained or injured beyond the two people confirmed by medics, and whether the military will open any inquiry into the attack. It is also not clear what role, if any, the armed settler seen firing a gun played in the wider confrontation. The situation in Abu Falah is likely to remain under scrutiny as the olive harvest continues and as pressure grows on Israeli authorities to respond to repeated attacks in the West Bank.

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