Settlers attack West Bank olive harvest, injuring Palestinians and US journalist

Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians and set fire to cars and olive trees during the annual olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, injuring 12 Palestinians and a foreign journalist, a local official said. A BBC team witnessed the violence near the Palestinian village of Abu Falah.

The BBC team saw wounded farmers being driven out along a narrow stony track, their cars loaded with olive-picking equipment, as smoke rose from nearby fires. Majdi Fheed, bloodied, said about 15 Jewish men attacked with guns, rocks and other weapons. "They hit me on my head [and] my neck – look, I am bleeding!" he said.

Yaser AlKam, a council member from Turmus Aya, told the BBC that Fheed, an American citizen, was attacked with nail-studded sticks and needed treatment for deep head wounds. His elderly mother was also hurt. Another man said settlers attacked them with sticks and burned three cars, including his own.

A US State Department spokesperson said they were aware of the reports and condemned "criminal violence by any party in the West Bank," calling for investigations, arrests and convictions.

Imm Khaldoun, 73, told the BBC she would always return to her land. "This is my land. It's my right [to be here]," she said.

The UN says the past two weeks have seen more settler attacks than during the entire harvest last year. Across the West Bank this year, settler attacks have killed one Palestinian and injured more than 120 others.

Olive picking has become a test of speed, with trees stripped rapidly at sunrise before settlers attack. In another orchard, farmers used power tools while watching settlers at a new illegal outpost on a ridge above. Landowner Amin Khalil said three villages had come together for protection; his land is surrounded by seven Jewish settlements and outposts. All Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Outposts are illegal under Israeli law but many receive state support.

As the BBC watched, dozens of settlers in black moved down the hill, setting fire to olive trees. Palestinian farmers panicked, yelling for children to get out. Settlers with slingshots threw stones; young Palestinians threw stones back. When Israeli forces arrived, settlers ran down and farmers retreated. Some Palestinians set off fireworks. Live ammunition cracked across the fields; it was unclear who was firing. Israeli forces then fired tear gas.

American journalist Heidi Levine of the Washington Post was injured. She said dozens of settlers ambushed her as she reported. "I got jumped," she said. "I was on the ground and they were kicking me... This went on for at least 10 minutes." Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray said Levine was clearly identifiable as a journalist and said he was outraged by the "unwarranted attack," urging a thorough investigation.

The IDF said personnel were sent after a report of a violent confrontation, a female journalist was injured, and all circumstances would be examined.

The UN says settler attacks on the olive harvest this year have killed one Palestinian and injured more than 120 others across the West Bank. Illegal outposts have mushroomed, clustering closer to Palestinian groves. The BBC says what it witnessed was part of a pattern repeated daily, as the olive harvest becomes a litmus test of how Israel's pro-settlement government policies affect Palestinians.

Source: BBC World.