West Bank faces ‘most dangerous olive season ever’: UN experts

Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank are facing “the most dangerous olive season ever”, UN experts said on Wednesday, urging Israeli settlers and military forces not to interfere with the harvest.

They also recommended a “foreign presence” as a buffer between the two sides.

A dozen United Nations experts said farmers faced intimidation, restrictions on access to land, severe intimidation and attacks by armed Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces.

“In 2023, the harvest was marred by a sharp increase in movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and settlers,” the independent experts said in a statement.

Last year they said: “Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, faced the highest levels of Israeli settler violence.”

Settlers had attacked Palestinians, burned or damaged their crops, stolen sheep and denied them access to their land, water and grazing areas, the statement said.

“Last year, Israel also seized more Palestinian land than in any year in the past thirty years,” they said, adding that the situation was “expected to worsen.”

– ‘Challenges, threats, intimidation’ –

The olive harvest is central to Palestinian life and culture, said the independent experts, who have a mandate from the Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.

“Limiting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements,” they argued.

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, was among the signatories.

The experts, including those on the right to food, to safe drinking water and sanitation and to adequate housing, said Palestinian farmers faced “tremendous challenges, threats and intimidation” in accessing their olive trees.

In 2023, more than 9,600 hectares of olive cultivation in the occupied West Bank were not harvested due to restrictions imposed by Israel, they say.

That meant the loss of 1,200 tons of olive oil, worth $10 million, she added.

“This situation is expected to worsen,” they warned, as Israeli authorities had revoked or failed to issue permits allowing farmers access to their land.

They urged Israeli forces not to interfere with this year’s olive harvest and “concentrate their efforts on withdrawing the occupation and dismantling the colonies.”

The experts said they would “continue to call for protection, including through a foreign presence to act as a buffer between the Palestinians and their aggressors, and to protect Palestinian farmers and their families.”

Violence in the West Bank has increased dramatically since Hamas launched its unprecedented attack on Israel last October.

Israeli forces or settlers have since killed more than 705 Palestinians in the West Bank, the Ramallah-based Health Ministry said earlier this month.

Israeli officials say at least 24 Israelis, civilians or members of the security forces, have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinian militants or in Israeli military operations in the West Bank during the same period.