A 44-year-old Palestinian was killed in attacks by Israeli settlers on olive harvesters in the West Bank.
A Palestinian was killed and 16 others injured during a pogrom perpetrated by settlers under the protection of Israeli forces in the northern occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities announced.
Ali Hassan Yasser al-Bazzari, 44, from Burqa, northwest of Nablus, was killed in the attack on Palestinians harvesting olives on farmland near Burqa, west of Nablus, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Wednesday.
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Several of the injured, including a woman, were transported to hospitals in Tulkarem and Nablus, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, citing local sources.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its teams treated five people in the area, two of whom suffered gunshot wounds, while the other three were beaten, Wafa reported.
The PRCS said Israeli forces also attacked ambulance crews trying to reach the injured and briefly arrested three paramedics and a volunteer.
Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah, said the violence comes amid an escalation of attacks against Palestinians during the olive harvest season.
“If you just go and pick your olives now… you won’t be able to come back from the trip. It could be dangerous, not only because of Israeli restrictions prohibiting farmers from entering their land, but also because of armed Israeli settlers who continue to attack Palestinians,” Ibrahim said.
She said the attacks transformed an important social and economic period for Palestinian families.
“In October, usually Palestinians take days off from their jobs and go to the land to try to pick their olives because it’s supposed to be a joyous season,” she added.
Israeli forces and settlers also attacked several Palestinians harvesting olives near Anata in the central occupied West Bank, Wafa reported.
Elsewhere, settlers cut down at least 50 olive trees belonging to the Palestinian Siam family after attacking the village of Mikhmas, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.
Ibrahim said the attacks have affected olive growing, with at least 45,000 trees destroyed this year in the occupied West Bank.
Settler violence, supported by army raids
Since October 7, 2023, nearly 15,000 settler attacks have taken place in the occupied West Bank, with 66 Palestinians killed, according to the Palestinian Commission for Settlement and Wall Resistance.
One such pogrom, supported by Israeli forces, in the village of Marda, north of Salfit, injured a number of Palestinians picking olives on Wednesday. They were treated for tear gas inhalation by the PRCS, according to Wafa, which says Israeli forces arrested at least three Palestinians.
Separately, a Palestinian was injured after being shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces during a raid near the al-Aqsa restaurant in Jenin. The injured man was transported to hospital by PRCS.
Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian and imposed a curfew on residents of Burqa, as settlers attacked the village east of Ramallah.
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