West Bank: The War on the Olive Tree

For many Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank is the Olive harvestwhich is actually high season, has become a race against time. Under the right-wing extremist government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahuwho is with Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also belongs to an extremist settler, has been since the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023 Not only has the number of illegal outposts of Israeli settlers increased, but also the number of attacks during the harvest season.

Most violent olive harvest

The UN even speaks of the most violent olive harvest since records began: in the first two weeks of October at least 160 attacks Israeli settlers registered in connection with the olive harvest. In 2025, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCH) recorded 1,836 attacks in which people or animals were harmed or property was damaged. 2026 were already in the first seven months 1.418 such attacks are counted.

The settlers come with batons and throw stones; their violence, partly with the support of the Israeli militaryis not only directed against Palestinians: sometimes they destroy the olive groves, which are a cultural symbol for the Palestinians. Between 2023 and the end of September 2026, more than 286,000 olive trees have been damaged, 100,000 of them this year, before the start of the harvest season.

Exchange of fire with deaths

Even after the recent settler attacks on the Washington-Post-Photographer Heidi Levine and European diplomats last week threw their support behind the settlers, who, although operating illegally under Israeli law, are supported by the state and private donors.

The situation in the occupied West Bank is precarious General elections am 27 October even more tense. On Friday there was an exchange of fire Hebron in the south of the West Bank two Israeli soldiers killed and three injured, two Palestinian attackers are said to have opened fire.

Netanyahu blamed the attack on the Islamist terrorist organization Hamas, which wrote a letter praising the attack but did not claim responsibility for it. The Prime Minister then called one Anti-Terror–Operation that began on Friday – the army and the domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet spoke of operations in dozens of locations with the aim of “locating and destroying terrorist infrastructure”.

Residents of the area had to leave after questioning and roadblocks were set up. Images showed bulldozers in the Israeli-occupied city of Hebron demolishing a building that security forces said were “illegal structures that could pose a security threat.” Israeli flags hung on some houses that had apparently been taken over by soldiers. The Palestinian Authority spoke of a collective punishment for the population.

The mayor of Hebron, Yousef al-Jabarisaid the Arabic News Channel Al Jazeera2,200 people have been displaced from their homes since Friday. The Ibrahimi-Moscheethe city’s landmark, was cordoned off, all employees had to leave and prayers in the mosque were forbidden.

Expulsion like in Gaza

According to the British Guardian Shortly after the destruction began, Israel’s Supreme Court issued an injunction to stop demolition work. Human rights activists spoke of “an attempt to copy the illegal practices from Gaza in the middle of the West Bank.” Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz even made a direct comparison to Gaza and stated that Hebron was being attacked in the same way as the refugee camp Jeninwhere nearly 20,000 people were forced from their homes. With around 250,000 inhabitants, Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the occupied West Bank.

According to Netanyahu, the operation will last several days. This only comes in handy for the election campaigner who is vying for the votes of the right-wing extremists and has to fear for his office.