Geopolitics · UB-025
Olive harvest becomes a flashpoint as settler attacks rise in the West Bank
Published 14-10-2026 · UB-025 · 🇵🇸 · ✓ 3 linked sources
File photo: olive harvest in Palestine, 13-10-2014. Photo: بدارين / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0A Palestinian was killed near Burqa and Palestinian officials report thousands of trees damaged as settler attacks hit this year's harvest.
A Palestinian was killed during an attack by Israeli settlers near the village of Burqa on 07-10-2026 while families were harvesting olives, the Palestinian health ministry said, Reuters reported. Reuters journalists have witnessed several incidents in which soldiers and settlers stopped Palestinians from reaching their groves.
The Palestinian Authority says settlers have killed at least 30 Palestinians this year, and that more than 45,000 trees, including over 26,000 olive trees, were cut down or damaged in the first half of 2026.
On 09-10-2026, the Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission recorded at least 19 settler attacks in a single day, including the uprooting of more than 50 olive trees in Qusra, while Israeli forces arrested 16 Palestinians in raids, Al Jazeera reported, citing Wafa.
On 14-10-2026, Palestinian security sources told Xinhua that settlers set fire to a mosque in the village of Mikhmas, east of Ramallah. The Palestinian Red Crescent said a 17-year-old was injured in a settler attack on harvesters in Beita.
The harvest season runs from October to November.