OCHA documented 126 attacks by illegal settlers across 70 Palestinian communities, leaving over 4,000 olive trees and saplings destroyed — a direct assault on one of Palestine’s most vital sources of livelihood.
“The 2025 olive harvest season has so far witnessed the highest level of damage and number of affected communities due to settler attacks since 2020,” the agency said.
Of the reported incidents, 60 involved direct assaults on Palestinian civilians, with 17 people injured and 19 vehicles vandalized in just the past week.
The UN body said settlers backed by the Israeli regime have tightened their grip on vast areas of farmland, blocking Palestinian farmers from reaching their groves under the protection of occupation forces.
On Saturday, armed settlers from illegal outposts attacked farmers in the village of Burin, south of Nablus, violently beating olive pickers and driving them off their own land, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Witnesses said the attackers scattered harvested olives on the ground, desecrating the farmers’ labor in a deliberate act of humiliation.
The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said 259 attacks have been carried out this season by the Israeli army and settlers combined, reflecting coordinated aggression sanctioned by the occupation authorities.
Violence by the Israeli regime has intensified since October 2023, with more than 1,062 Palestinians killed and 10,300 others wounded across the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian data.
In a historic ruling last July, the International Court of Justice declared the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) — a verdict the regime continues to defy.