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Settler Violence Spikes During West Bank Olive Harvest as Police Order Manhunt After Viral Assault

UN rights officials allege security‑force complicity, urging international pressure.

Overview

  • At least three Palestinians were wounded on Saturday in Deir Nidham near Ramallah, with witnesses reporting settler assaults and an arrest by Israeli forces, according to Wafa and local activists.
  • After a widely viewed video showed a masked attacker clubbing 55-year-old Afaf Abu Alia in Turmus Ayya, Israel’s West Bank police chief Moshe Pinchi instructed commanders to locate the assailant, AFP reported.
  • ABC News and Reuters verified footage of the Turmus Ayya attack, and the town’s mayor said Abu Alia remains hospitalized in Ramallah following the head injury.
  • Monitoring groups report a sharp seasonal surge, with at least 158 harvest-related incidents since early October and OCHA counting 27 affected villages in one recent week, alongside a UN-documented 13% rise in settler attacks in the year’s first half.
  • Witnesses and rights groups say soldiers have enabled or failed to stop attacks, while the IDF says it has deployed forces to defuse confrontations; UN officials cite a pattern of impunity and call for accountability and protection of civilians.