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The annual olive harvest in the occupied West Bank has begun amid an alarming wave of Israeli settler attacks, including shootings, arson and the destruction of centuries-old olive trees, the United Nations has warned.
At least 160 attacks linked to the olive harvest were recorded during the first two weeks of October, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The attacks were often carried out under the protection of, or with the participation of, Israeli forces.
Settlers have also damaged Palestinian property and stolen harvested olives and agricultural equipment. Last Friday, a settler attack targeted a Washington Post photojournalist covering the harvest, while European diplomats visiting a Palestinian community came under attack the following day.
On Thursday, the UN human rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory called on states and donors to move beyond condemnation and take urgent steps to protect Palestinian communities, describing the start of this year’s harvest as “ominous”.
Thousands of Palestinian farmers have been unable to reach their olive groves because of stringent Israeli movement restrictions, which have worsened considerably over the past three years. Meanwhile, settlers have reportedly been allowed to enter Palestinian land to harvest olives belonging to Palestinian farmers, according to the UN human rights office.
“Palestinians often say that olive trees are symbolic of their existence as a group and their connection to the land,” said Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN human rights office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“This is yet another tool of displacement and dispossession, adding to the suffering of communities whose rights are under attack on a daily basis,” he said.
The olive sector has suffered extensive damage since the conflict escalated in October 2023. The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture estimates the losses at $157 million and says that 90 per cent of Gaza’s two million olive trees have been destroyed during this period.
In the West Bank, 286,000 olive trees were damaged between 2023 and the end of September 2026, including 100,000 this year alone, before the harvest season began.
The scale of the damage, combined with restrictions on farmers’ access to their land and continuing attacks, has heightened concerns about the livelihoods of Palestinian families who depend on olive cultivation.
Sunghay reiterated a call by the Protection Cluster, a network of more than 100 international and national organisations led by his office, for UN member states to increase their diplomatic presence in high-risk Palestinian communities, particularly during the olive harvest.
The cluster urged governments to press Israel to guarantee Palestinians safe access to their agricultural land, protect farmers from violence and forced displacement, strengthen accountability for attacks and halt settlement expansion.
The latest warning comes amid years of reported settler violence across the occupied West Bank. UN agencies have repeatedly sought to help Palestinian farmers harvest their olives and reduce the risks they face.
Staff members of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) have assisted farmers during harvests in communities including Beit Surik, Biddu and Wadi Fukin.
UN officials have also engaged with local communities to help mitigate attacks. In 2024, the Humanitarian Fund allocated $750,000 to support olive farmers, stressing that Palestinians must be able to reach their groves safely and without obstruction.
The UN’s latest appeal underscores the growing threat to Palestinian agriculture and rural livelihoods as the olive harvest, a vital source of income and a longstanding symbol of Palestinians’ connection to their land, continues under increasingly difficult conditions. Source: UN News
