![Palestinian farmers start to harvest olives on agricultural field despite the Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the village of Madama, south of the city of Nablus, West Bank on October 03, 2024. [Issam Rimawi - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AA-20241004-35817609-35817606-OLIVE_HARVEST_SEASON_STARTS_IN_WEST_BANK.jpg?fit=1196%2C800&ssl=1)
Israeli occupation forces yesterday attacked farmers in the town of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya, seizing their olive harvest, tore open the bags containing the newly picked olives and scattered the produce onto the streets, Ma’an reported.
These assaults by the occupation forces come just hours after Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel the olive harvest season in the West Bank.
Since the start of the olive harvest, the Israeli army has been preventing farmers from accessing their lands, particularly in the eastern areas of the Qalqilya Governorate, claiming they require prior coordination from the Civil Administration to enter land classified in ‘Area C’.
Far-right Israeli members of government have long called for the annexation of ‘Area C’ and the expulsion of Palestinians living in the area. ‘Area C’ makes up some 60 per cent of the occupied West Bank and, under the terms of the Oslo Accords, is governed both administratively and militarily by Israel.
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