GAZA, Friday, October 20, 2023 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation forces compelled Palestinian olive harvesters today to leave their lands in the town of Qaryut, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Bashar Qaryouti, a local Palestinian activist, told WAFA that Israeli occupation forces compelled farmers to leave their lands in the Sahlat area in the south of the town. They also prevented them from continuing their olive picking.

The olive harvest is a key economic, familial and social activity for many Palestinians, who take days off work to tend to their lands, or those of their relatives, neighbors or friends. Between 80,000 to 100,000 families rely on olives and olive oil as primary or secondary sources of income.

While settler attacks are a frequent, near-daily reality for Palestinian villages, the number and intensity of attacks increase during the olive harvest season which runs until November, as settlers target families working on their lands.

M.N