Israeli settlers beat Palestinian farmers amid olive harvest

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RAMALLAH, West Bank – Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive pickers and activists in the Israeli-occupied West Bank this week, beating them with batons in attacks. At least one woman was hospitalized with serious injuries, Palestinian health officials said.

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Sunday's attack in the town of Turmus Aya, which was captured on video obtained by The Associated Press, comes as Palestinians say settler violence is increasing in the region. The United Nations and human rights groups have raised the alarm as the harvest season begins and Palestinian farmers face increasing risks when harvesting olives.

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“Settler violence has increased dramatically in scale and frequency,” Ajit Sungei, head of the U.N. human rights office in the Palestinian territory, said in a statement released Tuesday. “Two weeks into the 2025 harvest, we have already witnessed brutal attacks by armed settlers on Palestinian men, women, children and foreign solidarity activists.”

One video obtained by the AP shows a masked man running through an olive grove and beating at least two people with a baton, including a woman who lay motionless on the ground. The masked man appeared to be wearing tzitzit, the fringed Jewish ritual clothing.

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The woman was hospitalized with serious injuries, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said.

A separate video shows more than a dozen masked men running along a village road along an olive grove, chasing the car. One settler hit the car with a baton and opened the door. The passenger managed to break free and run away, while a group of men ran after him.

A third video shows flames and smoke rising from several cars that were set on fire.

Israel's Channel 12 reported that the West Bank police chief said in an internal police WhatsApp group that footage of a masked settler beating a woman was “keeping him up at night” and instructed officers to bring the settler to justice.

The Israeli military and police did not respond to AP requests for comment on the attack.

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Turmus Aya, whose population is predominantly Palestinian-American, has long been the target of settler attacks, but villagers say violence has intensified during the war between Israel and Hamas. It is located in a valley surrounded by hilltops topped by Israeli settlements and outposts. Since the killing of 14-year-old Palestinian-American Amer Rabi by Israeli troops in the city in April, protests against settler violence and the military's perceived failure to curb it have sparked regular clashes with settlers.

More broadly, settler violence is on the rise in the West Bank. The UN says there were 757 settler attacks that resulted in casualties or property damage in the first half of 2025, up 13% from the same period last year.

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In the first week of the olive harvest season, there were more than 150 settler attacks and more than 700 olive trees were uprooted, broken or poisoned, according to Muayyad Shaaban, who heads a Palestinian Authority office that monitors the violence.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast War. The Palestinians are seeking these territories for a future independent state. Settler supporters hold key positions in the Israeli cabinet, giving them and the settlers an important voice in the West Bank.

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