Israeli settlers have attacked several Palestinian villages across the occupied West Bank, as a wave of violence targeting residents harvesting their olive trees intensifies.At least three Palestinians were injured on Saturday after settlers attacked farmers in the village of Deir Nidham, northwest of Ramallah, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listMujahid Tamimi, a local resident and activist, was quoted by Wafa as saying settlers assaulted the farmers near the village’s western entrance, beating them with rifle butts and forcing them to leave their land.Tamimi added that Israeli forces later entered the village to provide protection for the settlers and detained 31-year-old resident Motasem Abdullah Tamimi.The attacks come as Palestinians across the West Bank have experienced a surge in Israeli military and settler violence in the shadow of Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which began in October 2023.Since then, Israeli settler and military attacks have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 10,000 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.But this year’s olive harvest season, which typically begins in early October, has brought a new, intensified wave of violence.Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh noted that the settler attacks “usually happen in the company and protection of Israeli soldiers who sometimes participate in them”.“The settlers are armed, dangerous and many of them serve in the army – and that is exactly why human rights organisations accuse the Israeli army of complicity,” said Odeh, adding that the settlers are “emboldened” by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government. Advertisement “The attacks are intended to drive Palestinians out of their homes, to create an environment where s …
