States must act as Israeli state-driven settler violence escalates at the start of Palestinian olive harvest

Responding to the latest acts of state-driven Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank over the weekend, which also targeted a delegation of European diplomats and a Washington Post photojournalist, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef, said:

“Once again, Israel’s apartheid system is turning the olive harvest into a season of horror for Palestinian families across the occupied West Bank. State-driven attacks by settlers on farmers that damage, destroy and steal crops, combined with Israeli military restrictions on access to groves, are causing immense suffering and economic loss for Palestinians.

“The series of attacks by settlers over the weekend against Palestinian residents of Khirbet Abu Falah and Taybeh in the Ramallah area, which also targeted a Washington Post photojournalist and a delegation of European diplomats, offer a glimpse into a reality of relentless aggression against Palestinians. Attempts by senior Israeli officials and electoral candidates across the political spectrum to portray this state-sponsored brutality as the work of a few individuals are a blatant distortion of reality.

“Amnesty International has long been sounding the alarm over the exponential rise in state-driven settler violence against Palestinians, which has sought, through terror-inspiring means, to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. This rise of violence has been fuelled by the international community’s persistent failure to take meaningful action against the very system enabling the continued oppression of Palestinians. These attacks must generate a strong response by states that claim to oppose Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territory, its continuous settlement expansion and state-driven settler violence.

“States must recognize that settler attacks are not isolated acts, but a central policy of the Israeli state and take concrete measures to respect their obligations under international law and to avoid complicity in Israeli violations and crimes against Palestinians by halting all trade, investment and cooperation that contribute to maintaining the unlawful occupation, apartheid and the ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing.

“States must also impose targeted sanctions against Israeli officials credibly implicated in serious violations of international law and support international justice and accountability efforts. Hiding behind empty rhetoric is not only cowardly, it is enabling further abuses. For Palestinians, it continues to be deadly.”

Background

On 16 October, dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives near the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah. During the attack, settlers reportedly threw stones, used slingshots, set olive trees on fire and assaulted Palestinians. US photojournalist Heidi Levine, who was covering the olive harvest for The Washington Post, was knocked to the ground, and repeatedly kicked despite wearing clearly marked press protective gear. She also had her camera equipment and phone stolen, and was hospitalized with multiple injuries. On 19 October, Israeli police said they had arrested 10 suspects as part of an investigation into ​the incidents.

The following day masked Israeli settlers attacked a group that included Belgian, French and Polish diplomats, a French mayor, Catholic representatives and Palestinian residents near the village of Taybeh, also northeast of Ramallah. A Belgian diplomatic vehicle was also reportedly damaged and several members of the delegation were assaulted.

Amnesty International’s 2026 report on the occupied West Bank documented how since late 2022 Israeli authorities have escalated a state-led and state-sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing, terrorizing and forcibly displacing thousands of Palestinians from Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of the West Bank to permanently alter its demography. In pursuing their goal of formal annexation, they have accelerated settlement expansion, intensified movement restrictions, exponentially increased funding as well as logistical, legal and political support to settlements and outposts, distributed arms to settlers and openly encouraged, facilitated, and condoned settler attacks as a deliberate tool of displacement.

Palestinian communities across the occupied West Bank have faced a sharp increase in settler attacks since October 2023 aimed at forcibly displacing them through physical assaults, threats and harassment against individuals; destruction of property, arson, crop theft; restrictions on access to agricultural and grazing land; and acts of theft and harm against livestock.

Amnesty International is calling on states to suspend all forms of cooperation that contribute to maintaining Israel’s unlawful occupation, ban trade with Israeli settlements, impose targeted sanctions against Israeli officials directly implicated in Israel’s ethnic cleansing campaign and serious crimes under international law against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, impose a comprehensive embargo on arms and security equipment to Israel, and support international accountability mechanisms, including ongoing investigations by the International Criminal Court.

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