Overview
- Afaf Abu Alia, 55, was struck on the head while harvesting olives in Turmus Ayya and was hospitalized; doctors later said her condition had stabilized, according to local officials.
- Footage filmed by U.S. journalist Jasper Nathaniel shows the attacker hitting her with a club and additional videos show groups of masked men chasing vehicles and torching cars; the assailant appeared to be wearing tzitzit.
- The IDF said forces arrived and dispersed disturbances and police said an investigation was opened, but the eyewitness journalist said no forces intervened during the attack; Israel’s Channel 12 reported a police commander urged officers to find the assailant.
- UN agencies report a surge in settler incidents tied to the olive harvest, with OCHA noting that roughly half of 71 documented attacks between October 7 and 13 occurred during harvesting and officials citing hundreds of cases in recent weeks.
- Turmus Ayya, a recurring flashpoint with many Palestinian-American residents, illustrates the wider economic and cultural stakes of the olive harvest for tens of thousands of Palestinian families.