By Awad Rajoob
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) - Six Palestinian farmers were injured Saturday when illegal Israeli settlers attacked the group while they harvested olives on their agricultural land in the occupied West Bank.
“Dozens of illegal settlers attacked farmers while they worked in the olive fields between the villages of Al-Lubban and Rantis, injuring six of them,” Majed Khalaf, mayor of the village of Rantis in northwest Ramallah, told Anadolu. “Illegal settlers from nearby outposts called for reinforcements and launched an attack on the farmers with stones and sticks.”
Khalaf said the farmers suffered cuts and bruises, with some receiving field treatment while others were taken to the hospital.
“The Israeli army arrived at the scene but did not stop the settlers' assault. Instead, they fired tear gas at the farmers and forced them to leave their land,” he added.
According to a monthly report by the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, illegal Israeli settlers carried out 245 attacks on Palestinians and their property, including vandalism and theft of belongings, in the West Bank.
Tension has been high across the West Bank amid a brutal Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 41,800 victims, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7 last year.
At least 742 Palestinians, including children, have since been killed, nearly 6,200 others injured and more than 10,900 arrested in the occupied territory, according to Palestinian figures.
The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land unlawful and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio