Israeli soldiers and settlers block Palestinian olive harvest in West Bank’s Area B

Matan Golan and Jack Khoury report in Haaretz on 3 October 2026:

At least 13 Palestinians were wounded in settler attacks across the West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent and local media said, as the olive harvest season began with reports of Israeli forces blocking Palestinians from harvesting and settlers stealing some of their crops.

The first reports of violence came from the Nablus area, where masked settlers were filmed raiding the outskirts of Beita. Speaking to Haaretz, an activist who was present said residents reported that masked settlers were attacking a home.  “Everyone started running toward the house to help the people,” the activist said. “Then the settlers retreated, and we went back to the olive harvest.”

The Israeli military later stopped a Palestinian olive harvest in Jabal Qamas, an area of agricultural land between Beita and the village of Osarin. The IDF detained harvesters after the settlers arrived and later entered Beita following the settler attack.

According to reports, one of the detained Palestinians was beaten by Israeli forces and was later transferred to a hospital in Nablus for treatment.

Palestinian media reported that two Palestinians were wounded in Osarin and taken to a hospital in moderate condition. The Red Crescent said it treated one of them, who had been severely beaten.

The activist in Beita said an Israeli military force initially arrived from the direction of a nearby outpost before an armed settler arrived alongside more soldiers. “They arrived together with weapons drawn, running, and the soldiers who had already arrived and were next to us told them to calm down, and then a conversation with them began,” the activist said.

Video from the scene shows activists presenting soldiers with maps of the area and telling them that farmers did not require Israeli permission to harvest olives in Area B, where the incident took place. The armed settler remained alongside the troops, the video shows.

“You are not allowed to harvest until all the anarchist Jews leave here,” a soldier is later heard telling the Palestinian landowners.

The landowner, apparently assuming the soldier was referring to the settlers, replied: “Fine, you’re the army, expel them from here.” The soldier then pointed at the Israeli activists accompanying the Palestinians and said: “Those ones – make sure they leave.”

The soldier’s demand runs contrary to IDF procedures for the olive harvest, which state that Palestinians may be accompanied by Israeli activists and that their presence alone is not grounds for closing the area or treating the harvest as a provocation.

Although the olive harvesters were in Area B, the army dispersed them.

Elsewhere in the Nablus area, the Red Crescent said its medics treated five Palestinians wounded in a settler attack in the village of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reported several additional incidents. In the village of Burin, settlers attacked Palestinian harvesters, stealing their agricultural equipment and crops, the agency said. Three Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces fired tear gas upon arriving at the scene.

A uniformed, armed settler from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar summoned a military force to the area, Wafa said. According to the report, the soldiers handcuffed and detained four farmers and confiscated the olives they had harvested.

Two Palestinian harvesters were also detained by Israeli soldiers in the town of Aqraba, Wafa reported.

Later Saturday, Palestinian media reported that five Palestinians were wounded in a settler attack on a family harvesting olives in the village of Rantis, west of Ramallah. The mother was reportedly wounded after being run over by a vehicle, while the father’s arm was broken and their son suffered a head wound. The family was reportedly from East Jerusalem and was taken to Israel for medical treatment.

Palestinian media also reported that settlers set fire to at least 50 olive trees in the town of Abu Dis, which borders Jerusalem.

In Beit Imrin, northwest of Nablus, Palestinian media said a 50-year-old man was wounded and taken to hospital, and that settlers set fire to nearby agricultural land. Video also showed settlers threatening olive harvesters in the village.

Hours after the incidents in Beita and Osarin, police said they had arrested four foreign nationals on suspicion of “disturbing the peace and being present in a closed military zone.”  According to the statement, the investigation materials were transferred to the Population and Immigration Authority for a hearing ahead of possible deportation, “as part of an effort to thwart provocative activity involving friction and disturbances that could harm the image of the State of Israel.”

Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council, said following the police announcement that he “supports Ben-Gvir and the security establishment – firm action against foreign anarchists in Samaria.” He added that “the Samaria Regional Council held a roundtable with representatives of the Judea and Samaria District Police, Central Command, Samaria Brigade, Interior Ministry and Population and Immigration Authority to examine ways of dealing with foreign nationals involved in provocations in Samaria.”

The Israel Police said officers and forensic investigators entered Osarin after the attack to collect evidence and witness testimony. According to police, forces were dispatched after reports that Palestinians had been attacked, but the assailants fled before they arrived.

The IDF said it “strongly condemns incidents of this kind,” adding that they undermine military efforts to defend the area and prevent attacks.

The harvest took place more than a kilometer (0.6 miles) inside Area B of the West Bank, where civilian affairs are under Palestinian Authority control while Israel retains security authority.

Saturday’s incident marked the fourth time over the weekend that the IDF prevented olive harvesting in areas under the PA’s civil authority.

The olive groves between Beita and Osarin were subject to violent settler attacks last year. The Mevaser Shalom outpost, established in the area about a year ago and evacuated several times following attacks, has repeatedly been rebuilt and expanded this year.

Responding to a petition challenging the military’s extensive use of short-term closure orders, Israel’s High Court said in January that Israeli authorities were too quick to issue preventive closure orders, but declined to intervene in the military’s overall policy.

In its ruling, the court distinguished between closures imposed in response to clashes already underway and those issued in advance. It said preventive closures require current intelligence indicating that activists intend to disturb public order, and that the mere possibility of friction between settlers and activists was not enough.

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