RAMALLAH, October 16, 2026 (WAFA) - The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission stated that it has documented 34 colonists’ attacks targeting Palestinian farmers, their lands, and their crops since Friday morning.
According to the commission, the attacks were recorded across six governorates: 15 in Ramallah and al-Bireh, 13 in Nablus, two each in Salfit and Jenin, and one each in Tulkarm and Hebron. The attacks included beating olive pickers, forcing them to leave their lands, detaining them, stealing crops and equipment, and setting fire to trees and vehicles.
According to the figures available so far, the attacks left at least 19 Palestinians injured, in addition to cases of suffocation. Those targeted included children, women, elderly people, journalists and rescue crews.
In Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, widespread attacks were reported in Turmus Ayya, Abu Falah, Burqa, Deir Jarir, Abwein, the vicinity of Birzeit, Barham, al-Taybeh, Ramon and Kafr Ni'ma.
The injured included two foreign journalists, one of whom was American photojournalist Heidi Levine. The latest reports also indicated that two brothers, aged eight and 12, and their 45-year-old father were injured when colonists attacked their family while they were picking olives in Burqa.
In Nablus governorate, three Palestinians were injured while picking olives in Asira al-Qibliya, while two farmers were injured in Beita.
Israeli occupation forces forced farmers to leave the southern plain of Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya and seized their crops. Meanwhile, colonists, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, attacked olive pickers in Wadi Abwein, stole their olives and equipment, and forced them to leave the area.
The attacks also targeted farmers in Qabalan, Burin and Majdal Bani Fadil, while olive theft was reported in Aqraba.
In Salfit governorate, groups of colonists assaulted olive pickers west of Deir Ballut before Israeli occupation forces forced them to leave their lands.
Israeli occupation forces detained two brothers while they were picking olives in Wadi Qana, in Deir Istiya, and fired tear gas at farmers north of Salfit city, forcing them to leave their lands.
In Jenin governorate, farmers were forced to leave their lands in Jalbun, while Israeli occupation forces detained Murad and Qais Darar as they were picking olives in Barta’a.
In Shufa, in Tulkarm governorate, Israeli occupation forces detained farmers, tied them up, and seized their phones, identity cards and crops.
Material damage included the burning of five vehicles, four of them in Turmus Ayya, including a Civil Defense vehicle, and a fifth in Asira al-Qibliya. The attacks also included the seizure of two vehicles in Abwein, damage to other vehicles, the burning of trees, and the theft of crops and olive-picking equipment.
The commission stressed that repeated attacks—coupled with preventing farmers from accessing their lands, forcing them to leave, and detaining them—compound their losses and undermine their ability to complete the harvest.
It called for effective protection to ensure that farmers can safely access their lands and continue working there, as well as accountability for those responsible for the attacks.
The commission added that the figures remain preliminary as monitoring and verification efforts continue.
T.R.
