Palestinian olive harvest faces 136 reported attacks

Layla Kanafani

17 hours ago

2 min read

Palestinian farmers entered the 2026 olive season facing repeated attacks, destruction of trees and the loss of access to land that sustains families across the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported 136 incidents linked to the harvest between October 1 and 12.

The commission's preliminary tally, carried by the Palestinian news agency WAFA, counted 219 attacks by settlers and Israeli forces during that period. It said 92 harvest-related incidents involved direct assaults on pickers or obstruction of access to fields. These are the Palestinian agency's figures and have not been independently verified for every incident.

On October 12, residents in Turmus Ayya near Ramallah were reportedly prevented by Israeli forces from reaching the Al-Shouna area to collect olives. In Mikhmas two days later, settlers allegedly set fire to a mosque, a vehicle and an olive tree, according to WAFA reporting cited by Al Jazeera.

An attack on livelihoods and belonging

Olive groves are not simply an agricultural asset. Trees passed from one generation to another anchor communities to particular plots of land. Preventing harvesters from reaching those trees strikes directly at household income, inherited property and the ability to remain in rural villages.

Harvesting Palestinian green olives in the Hebron governorate, archival photograph

The threat goes beyond any one assault. Farmers who must assemble large groups or seek international volunteers before they can enter their orchards face costs and dangers that should never be conditions of routine agricultural work.

Israel says its security forces act to protect public safety, and officials have sometimes condemned acts of settler violence. The international legal position is clear, however: Israeli settlements in occupied territory violate international law, and civilians must be protected from attacks and intimidation.

A durable response requires more than sympathy at harvest time. It requires freedom of access to agricultural land, investigations into violent attacks, restitution for destroyed property and an end to the expansion of settlement infrastructure that places farmers under constant pressure.

Sources: WAFA, October 12, 2026 — https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/175787 ; WAFA, October 12 — https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/175753 ; Al Jazeera, October 14 — https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/10/14/settlers-set-fire-to-mosque-in-west-bank-as-israeli-forces-raid-villages

PHOTO CREDITS — Lead: Qafin olive harvest / Wikimedia Commons, archival. Inline: Palestinian green olives harvested in Hebron governorate / Wikimedia Commons, archival. Images are illustrations, not photographs of the October 2026 incidents.

About Pamphlets

Pamphlets is an independent, collectively operated political news and analysis publication. We cover America, Eurasia, Africa, China and the Global South from a socialist and anti-imperialist perspective. Articles use editorial pen names or the collective Pamphlets Staff byline. The named identities are editorial voices, not claims of separately staffed overseas bureaus or independent correspondent identities. Portraits are illustrative.

Editorial pen names: Gianna Mao, Carlitos Marquez, Hugo Castro, Luigi Vanzetti, Rosa Liebknecht, Vladimir Derzhinky, Pamela Fuentes, Layla Kanafani and Amara Sankara. Cartoons: TAJO.

Editorial standards and corrections

Our goal is to distinguish reporting, analysis and opinion; verify material claims against identifiable sources; cite or link original documents where feasible; and identify archival or illustrative photographs. We correct substantive errors and aim to explain material corrections in the affected article. Readers can raise factual concerns through the official channels listed on our Links page. Editorial perspective does not replace source verification.

Pamphlets respects your privacy. Our website and service providers may process basic technical data, including IP addresses, browser details, page requests and cookies, to operate and secure the site. Information you voluntarily submit is used to respond to you.

Embedded content and linked sites may have their own privacy practices. If advertising is enabled, third-party vendors including Google may use cookies to serve ads based on your visits to this and other websites. Google and its partners may use advertising cookies to personalize and measure ads. Ad providers may place or read cookies or use web beacons, IP addresses and similar identifiers to collect information during ad serving. You can control personalized Google advertising at Google Ads Settings and opt out of some third-party personalized advertising at aboutads.info.

To request access, correction or deletion of information you have submitted, contact Pamphlets through our Contact page. Some technical data may be retained by service providers or as required by law.