GENEVA — United Nations experts have called on Israel to protect Palestinian olive farmers in the occupied West Bank from settler attacks and to ensure that agricultural workers are not prevented from reaching their land, according to reporting by The Hindu — International.
The appeal comes as Palestinian agricultural communities across the territory face mounting obstacles during the seasonal olive harvest, a vital cultural and economic staple for thousands of families in the West Bank.
Demands for Farmer Protection
The panel of UN experts urged Israeli authorities to instruct their security forces to step in and defend Palestinian farmers against violence carried out by Israeli settlers. Incidents involving physical assaults, the destruction of olive groves, and the theft of crops have repeatedly disrupted harvest activities, threatening the livelihoods of local rural communities.
According to the dispatch, the experts stressed that Israeli forces must uphold their legal obligations to safeguard civilians under occupation rather than permitting settler harassment to continue without consequence.
Unhindered Access to Agricultural Land
In addition to halting physical violence, the UN monitors called on Israel to ensure that its military and security forces refrain from interfering with farmers attempting to access their own properties. In many parts of the West Bank, Palestinian landowners frequently face military closures, administrative roadblocks, and permit restrictions that prevent them from tending to or harvesting their groves.
The experts emphasized that unhindered access to farmlands is essential to preserving the economic survival and territorial rights of Palestinian farming communities in the region.
