"‘Olives are everything for us’: West Bank farmers prevented from harvesting by settler violence", 3 November 2025

“Our olives are everything for us: the backbone of our economy, in our homes, on our tables, in our culture. These last years have brought nothing but misery to us,” says Hassan, 68....

Since the beginning of October, the Palestinian Farmers’ Union (PFU) has logged more than 50 incidents of violence or destruction...

The UN has recorded more: 86 olive harvest-related settler attacks resulting in casualties, property damage or both, including several incidents reported in the days before the official start of the season on 9 October. More than 3,000 trees and saplings have been damaged and 112 Palestinians injured, including 50 by settlers....

Records kept by the PFU show incidents of violence have soared fourfold, from three or four daily before the war in Gaza. The most recent attacks are “not random, but deliberate efforts to undermine Palestinian rural life”, the PFU said in a statement...

Abbas Milhem, the director of the PFU, said: “The economic impact is very bad for everybody, but there is more than that … the olive tree for Palestinians is not just a tree. It is a source of life, a source of peace. We have been cultivating olive trees in Palestine for thousands of years. It is part of our culture and our existence.”...

About 60% of olive farmers were unable to harvest their crops in 2023, and about a third last year, according to the PFU’s records. This year, a record 70% will be prevented from harvesting, Milhem expects. The revenue from olives in the West Bank is now a fraction of the $130m (£99m) annually before the war....

The continuing economic crisis in the West Bank, which has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967, means few olive farmers have alternative sources of income. The World Bank said the West Bank’s economy contracted by 17% in 2024....