Israel must stop violent settler attacks on Palestinian farmers that threaten their olive harvest, say UN experts

GENEVA (16 October 2024) – Palestinian farmers in Israeli-occupied West Bank are facing the most dangerous olive season ever, UN experts* said today.

The intimidation of farmers, restriction of access to lands, severe harassment and attacks by Israeli armed settlers and occupation forces further undermine the food sovereignty of Palestinian families and are yet another attack on Palestinian self-determination, the experts warned.

“In 2023, the harvest was marred by a sharp increase in movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and settlers,” the experts said. “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 or damaging their property and crops, stealing sheep, blocking them from accessing their land, water and grazing areas, 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 olive harvest is central to Palestinian life and culture. 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 experts said. “Restricting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements.”

Palestinian farmers, who rely heavily on the olive harvest for their livelihood, face enormous challenges, threats and harassment in accessing their olive trees. In 2023, more than 96,000 dunums of olive-cultivated land across the occupied West Bank remained unharvested due to Israeli-imposed restrictions, resulting in the loss of 1,200 metric tons of olive oil, amounting to US$10 million.

“This situation is expected to worsen as Israeli authorities have increasingly revoked or failed to issue "prior coordination" permits, which are necessary for farmers to access their lands in certain areas,” the experts warned. “During the 2023 season, nearly all of these approvals were cancelled, and agricultural gates along the West Bank Barrier were largely closed, further obstructing access.”

They urged Israeli forces to refrain from interfering with this year’s olive harvest, and concentrate their efforts on withdrawing the occupation and dismantling the colonies, as stated by the International Court of Justice on 19 July 2024 and reaffirmed by the General Assembly on 18 September 2024.

“Israel is under international legal obligation to first and foremost end their occupation of Palestinian land, which amounts to annexation including through racial segregation and apartheid, 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,” they said.

The experts said they were following the situation closely and will continue to call for protection, including through a foreign presence acting as a buffer between the Palestinians and their aggressors, and to protect Palestinian farmers and their families.

The Special Rapporteur on the right to food will be presenting his thematic report “Starvation and the right to food, with an emphasis on the Palestinian people’s food sovereignty” to the General Assembly on 18 October.