The ongoing olive harvest season in the occupied West Bank has witnessed the highest number of illegal settler assaults in five years, with more than 120 incidents reported across dozens of Palestinian communities, a UN agency reported Saturday.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement that 126 attacks were recorded in 70 Palestinian towns and villages, while over 4,000 olive trees and saplings were vandalized.
"The 2025 olive harvest season has so far witnessed the highest level of damage and number of affected communities due to settler attacks since 2020," it added.
OCHA noted that 60 of the documented attacks involved direct assaults on Palestinian civilians, with at least 17 people injured and 19 vehicles vandalized in the past week alone.
The U.N. agency said illegal Israeli settlers from newly established outposts have also imposed access restrictions on Palestinian farmers in multiple locations, preventing them from reaching their groves during the harvest.
