Widespread settler attacks on Palestinian olive harvest spark ethnic cleansing claims
Hundreds of Israeli settlers have assaulted Palestinian villagers during the olive harvest, injuring dozens and targeting property, in what locals describe as a large-scale ethnic cleansing effort.
Beginning in late September, the crucial olive-harvesting period, Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank have faced a wave of violence from Israeli settlers. Local monitors and NGOs report hundreds of incidents over a few days, with settlers wielding sticks, stones and firearms to harass residents. The attacks have left dozens injured, some critically, and have involved arson of vehicles, damage to a mosque, and the poisoning or killing of livestock, as observed in Kafr Malik.
Journalists covering the harvest, including an American reporter, have been targeted and injured. A delegation of European diplomats was also confronted by settlers during a visit to the Christian village of Taybeh. Settlers state their goal is to intimidate Palestinians and force them off their land to expand settlements, a claim echoed by long-standing statements from settler groups.
Why it matters
The violence threatens food security, human rights and the prospects for a negotiated peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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