Attachments
Yesterday, 17 October, Israeli security forces shot dead a 59-year-old Palestinian woman harvesting olives with her family and other community members in Faqqu'a, Jenin, on land near the Wall in the occupied West Bank. According to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office, the harvesters were not posing any threat whatsoever when Israeli security forces fired multiple shots at them without prior warning.
Across the West Bank, picking olives for the annual harvest is becoming an increasingly risky activity. This arbitrary killing comes in the context of intensified, organized attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian harvesting teams to sabotage the olive harvest, along with use of force by Israeli security forces to block Palestiniansˈ access to their lands in an apparently arbitrary manner. During the first week of the official Palestinian olive harvest season, the UN Human Rights Office recorded dozens of incidents of violence against Palestinian harvesters and disruption of access to olive groves.
Among other alarming incidents, on 13 October, Palestinian landowners from Qusra, Nablus, found 115 of their olive trees cut down with a machine saw after resisting harassment and threats by settlers and Israeli security forces to vacate their groves. In a horrific attack on 5 October, a large group of settlers attacked with clubs and crowbars Palestinian families picking olives in their land in Al-Lubban Al-Gharbi, Ramallah, injuring 25 Palestinians, most of them with broken ribs and head injuries, stealing the harvest and equipment, and causing other material damages. Israeli security forces were present but did not stop them. In several other instances, Israeli security forces requested Palestinians to leave their land under the threat of force without any apparent legal grounds to do so.
The combination of restricted access to land and unchecked violence are key features of a coercive environment that is increasingly forcing Palestinians to leave their land. As the harvest season progresses, areas of the West Bank not historically targeted are this year being subjected to access restrictions, with settler presence increasingly encroaching onto lands close to Palestinian villages, including in areas designated as “Area B” under the Oslo Accords. While 2024 has already seen record amounts of Palestinian land confiscated and effectively annexed by Israel, concern is high that settlers, backed by Israeli authorities, are taking advantage of the olive harvest to further advance the settlement enterprise in an environment of enduring impunity.
In the past days, settler groups, as well as key figures in the Israeli government, have incited against and requested to stop all Palestinian harvesting activities, particularly near Israeli settlements, the Wall, and roads used by settlers, to ensure the security of settlers.
Israel has fundamental obligations under international law to protect Palestinians and their property against violence and to ensure the upholding of their dignity and access to livelihoods. The UN Human Rights Office further recalls that the International Court of Justice recently concluded that settler violence, Israel’s systematic failure to effectively punish this violence and Israeli forces’ excessive use of force against Palestinians are contributing to the maintenance of a coercive environment that is inconsistent with Israel’s international legal obligations. The Court further stated that Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful. The Court found that the presence of settlers and settlements is unlawful and that the protection of settlers and settlements, therefore, cannot be invoked to justify discriminatory measures, such as movement and access restrictions, against Palestinians.
We reiterate our call to Israeli authorities to ensure, in the weeks ahead, Palestinians’ full access to their land and protection from settler attacks to complete the olive harvest fully and safely.
We further remind the obligation of Israeli authorities to ensure prompt, effective, thorough, and transparent investigation into this latest killing and all previous incidents of violence by settlers and Israeli security forces against Palestinians for perpetrators to be prosecuted and, if convicted, punished with appropriate sanctions. Victims must be provided with effective remedies, including adequate compensation, in accordance with international standards.
#ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
UN Human Rights office at ohchr-opt@un.org