UN experts demanded protection for Palestinian farmers as settler attacks, tree destruction and Israeli military restrictions threaten the olive harvest.

Key Developments

• UN experts warned that violence and restrictions against Palestinian olive farmers are intensifying year after year.
• During the 2025 harvest, 178 settler attacks were documented across 88 communities, with more than 6,000 trees and saplings vandalized.
• September 2026 military orders allow vegetation removal across approximately 339,000 square meters of Palestinian agricultural land, including olive groves.

UN experts called Monday for the protection of Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest, warning that escalating settler violence, destruction of agricultural land and Israeli military restrictions threaten livelihoods and food security across the occupied West Bank.

“Palestinian farmers must be protected and able to access their land safely. Yet, year after year, the violence, destruction and restrictions intensify,” the experts said in a statement.

They urged Israel to ensure farmers’ safety and access to their land, and called on influential states to exert pressure to halt policies advancing annexation.

Their warning drew on the scale of destruction recorded during the previous harvest and new military measures affecting Palestinian agricultural land this year.

During the 2025 olive harvest, 178 harvest-related settler attacks were documented across 88 Palestinian towns and villages, according to the experts. That was the highest number of affected locations since 2020.

More than 6,000 olive trees and saplings were vandalized during that season—nearly double the 2024 figure and the highest number recorded in six years.

Military Orders

The experts also raised alarm over Israeli military orders issued in September 2026 authorizing the removal of vegetation from approximately 339,000 square meters, or 84 acres, of Palestinian agricultural land.

The affected areas include olive groves in Jenin, Qabatiya and Beit Rima.

According to the experts, the orders allow olive trees to be uprooted and give landowners extremely limited time to remove vegetation themselves or file objections.

Farmers also face increasing difficulty obtaining permits to reach their land.

A revised Israeli military policy prevents Palestinians from harvesting olives on land classified by Israel as “state land,” including plots families have cultivated for generations, the experts said.

Together, the restrictions and destruction threaten farmers’ ability to collect a crop on which thousands of households depend.

“The olive harvest is an essential source of food, income and livelihood for thousands of Palestinian families, and is deeply rooted in Palestinian cultural and agricultural heritage,” the experts said.

Demand for International Pressure

The experts urged Israel to protect Palestinian farmers from settler attacks, guarantee safe access to agricultural land and comply with its obligations under international law.

They also called for an international response addressing the wider policies driving dispossession and annexation.

“The international community, especially States with power and influence, must exercise maximum pressure to protect Palestinian civilians, halt and reverse the rapidly expanding policies and practices of annexation and ensure accountability for decades of violations of Palestinian rights under international law,” they said.

The warning comes amid attacks during the current harvest season, including assaults on Palestinian farmers, an American photojournalist and a European diplomatic delegation.

In a separate report published Monday, the Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies, Madar, cited Yesh Din figures documenting attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers across 171 Palestinian communities since the start of this year’s harvest season.

Those incidents included 119 cases of crop theft and 68 cases in which Palestinians were completely prevented from harvesting.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 1967. Its settlements in the occupied territory are illegal under international law.

(PC. Anadolu, Palestinian Media)