Introduction

Each year in October and November, Palestinians take to their lands for the annual olive harvest season. The olive harvest season constitutes an important part of the economic, cultural and agricultural life of the Palestinian people, and a primary source of income for many Palestinian families.[1] Indeed, the olive sector, a cornerstone of the Palestinian economy, encompasses olive oil, table olives, pickles, and soap production, generating between 160 and 191 million USD during productive years.[2] However, with each year passing, Israeli violence against olive harvesters continues, denying many farmers and their families from accessing their lands and harvesting their olive trees.

In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupying forces (IOF) have destroyed over 75 percent of all olive trees since October 2023, according to the National Bureau for Defending Land of the Palestine Liberation Organization.[3] Whereas in the West Bank – which is home to over 10 million olive trees that sustain the livelihoods of 80,000 to 100,000 Palestinian families[4] – many are anticipating having to buy olive oil from other Palestinian farmers this year for the first time in their life, due to Israeli colonial violence.

Israeli measures to disrupt the olive harvest season in the West Bank encompass a range of tactics, from restricting Palestinian access to their lands to direct attacks by both the IOF and Israeli settlers. Between 1 October and 21 November 2024, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) documented 225 settler-related incidents targeting the olive harvest in 82 areas in the West Bank.[5] Of these, 171 attacks resulted in killings and physical injuries or property damage. Moreover, OCHA reported that, during the same period, over 2,500 olive trees and saplings were burned, sawed down, or otherwise destroyed, alongside widespread theft of crops and harvesting tools.

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