![A group of Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli soldiers raids the Old City area of Hebron, West Bank on September 14, 2024 [Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/AA-20240914-35642904-35642891-JEWISH_SETTLERS_UNDER_THE_PROTECTION_OF_ISRAELI_FORCES_RAID_HEBRON.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
UN human rights experts have demanded that Israel should stop Jewish settlers’ violence against Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank. The experts said yesterday that Palestinian farmers in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory are facing the most dangerous olive season ever.
“The intimidation of farmers, restriction of access to lands, severe harassment and attacks by armed Israeli settlers and occupation forces further undermine the food sovereignty of Palestinian families and are yet another attack on Palestinian self-determination,” they pointed out.
The UN officials explained that olive picking is essential to Palestinian life and culture, adding that in 2023, the harvest season was marred by a sharp increase in movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and settlers.
“Last year, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, faced the highest level of Israeli settler violence, including settlers physically assaulting Palestinians; setting fire to or damaging their property and crops; stealing sheep; blocking them from accessing their land, water and grazing areas; and causing a record number of Palestinians to be displaced after being forced to leave their homes and lands. Last year, Israel also seized more Palestinian land than in any year in the past 30 years.”
The Palestinian people’s relationship to olive trees, which can live for hundreds of years, is also about their relationship to their ancestors and to their future, the UN experts explained. “[Moreover], restricting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements.”
The experts demanded that Israel, which is under international legal obligation to first and foremost end its occupation of Palestinian land — which amounts to annexation including through racial segregation and apartheid — should immediately cease all new settlement activities and evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory.
“It is also under the obligation to provide full reparation for the damage caused by its human rights violations to all persons concerned, including by returning land, and allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.”
OPINION: Palestine and the role of international laws and conventions