LONDON: Israeli settlers carried out 34 attacks targeting Palestinian farmers, their lands and crops in six West Bank governorates on Friday, injuring at least 19 people, the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said.
The incidents included beatings, detentions, the theft of olives and equipment, and the burning of trees and vehicles, the Palestinian WAFA news agency reported, citing information from the commission. Farmers were also reportedly forced from their land.
The commission recorded 15 attacks in Ramallah and Al-Bireh, 13 in Nablus, two in each of Salfit and Jenin, and one each in Tulkarm and Hebron. It said the figures were preliminary as monitoring and verification efforts continued.
Children, women, older people, journalists and rescue workers were among those targeted. In addition to the 19 Palestinians reported injured, others suffered breathing difficulties, the commission said.
In Ramallah and Al-Bireh, attacks were reported in Turmus Ayya, Abu Falah, Burqa, Deir Jarir, Abwein, the Birzeit area, Barham, Al-Taybeh, Ramon and Kafr Niima.
Two brothers, ages 8 and 12, and their 45-year-old father were injured when settlers attacked their family while they picked olives in Burqa, the commission said.
Two foreign journalists, including an American photojournalist, Heidi Levine, who works for The Washington Post, were also injured in Burqa.
Farther north, three Palestinians were injured while picking olives in Asira Al-Qibliya, and two farmers were hurt in Beita, both in Nablus Governorate.
The commission also reported attacks on farmers in Qabalan, Burin and Majdal Bani Fadil, and the theft of olives in Aqraba. In Wadi Abwein, it said, settlers under Israeli military protection attacked olive pickers, stole their crops and equipment, and forced them to leave the area.
Israeli forces separately forced farmers away from the southern plain of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya and seized their crops, the commission said. Similar incidents were reported in Salfit governorate, where settlers assaulted olive pickers west of Deir Ballut and then Israeli forces ordered the farmers to leave their land.
Israeli forces also detained two brothers who were picking olives in Wadi Qana, near Deir Istiya, and fired tear gas at farmers north of Salfit city, forcing them to leave, the commission added.
In Jenin Governorate, farmers were forced from their land in Jalbun, and Israeli forces detained two people, Murad and Qais Darar, as they picked olives in Barta’a. In Shufa, in Tulkarm Governorate, Israeli forces detained farmers, bound them and seized their phones, identity cards and crops, the commission said.
Reported property damage included five burned vehicles, four of them in Turmus Ayya, including a Civil Defense vehicle, and one in Asira Al-Qibliya. Two vehicles were seized in Abwein.
The commission said the attacks, together with restrictions on access to farmland and the detention and removal of farmers, were deepening losses and jeopardizing the olive harvest. It called for measures to protect farmers, ensure they have safe access to their land, and hold accountable those responsible for violations of their rights.