New York, Oct. 21 (Petra) — The United Nations Human Rights Office
stated on Wednesday that Israeli attacks on the olive harvest season
serve as “another tool of displacement and dispossession,”
compounding the suffering of Palestinian communities, and urged all
states and donor agencies to act urgently to protect farmers.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
reported at least 160 Israeli settler attacks associated with the
olive harvest season in the West Bank during the first two weeks of
October, mostly carried out “under the protection of, or with the
participation of, Israeli forces.”

OCHA noted that an international journalist was attacked while
covering the harvest, alongside European diplomatic representatives
visiting a Palestinian village in recent days. The office highlighted
that settlers used “live ammunition, deliberately set fires,
destroyed olive trees and groves including ancient trees damaged
Palestinian property, and stole harvested olive crops and
agricultural equipment.”

The UN agency emphasized that thousands of Palestinian farmers remain
unable to reach their olive groves due to escalating Israeli
restrictions, while “settlers illegally present in the occupied
territory are permitted access to Palestinian land to harvest their
crops.”

//Petra// AF