A group of Israeli settlers escorted by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Sunday attacked a number of Palestinian farmers and foreign peace activists who were picking olives near the city of Nablus.
The Palestinian activist Myassar Atiani told Quds Press that the settlers coming from the nearby Eli settlement and the IOF soldiers assaulted the olive pickers and confiscated the IDs of the Palestinian farmers and the passports of the foreign activists.
Atiani pointed out that the IOF soldiers after examining the confiscated documents informed the foreign activists that they are not allowed to enter the area again; however the activists rejected the decision saying that they will continue to help and support the Palestinian farmers.
A similar attack was recorded in the same area on Saturday in which a number of Palestinian farmers and foreign peace activists were injured.
According to anti-settlement activists Palestinian farmers yearly suffer heavy losses because of the settlers’ attacks which are usually escalated during the annual olive harvest season to force the farmers to leave their lands so that they become an easy target for settlement projects.
The West Bank and Gaza Strip have nearly 8.5 million olive trees according to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture which said that the sales of olive crops and olive oil constitute 1% of the national income.
