Palestinian killed, several injured in Israeli pogrom in occupied West Bank

A 44-year-old Palestinian man was killed during Israeli settler assaults on olive harvesters in the West Bank.

A Palestinian has been killed and 16 others wounded in a pogrom by settlers under the protection of Israeli forces in the northern occupied West Bank, Palestinian authorities said.

Ali Hassan Yasser al-Bazzari, 44, from Burqa, northwest of Nablus, was killed in the attack on Palestinians harvesting olives on farmland near Burqa, west of Nablus, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

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Several of those wounded, including a woman, were taken to hospitals in Tulkarem and Nablus, the Wafa news agency reported, citing local sources.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its teams treated five people in the area, including two who suffered gunshot wounds, while the other three were beaten, Wafa reported.

PRCS said Israeli forces also assaulted ambulance crews trying to reach the injured people, and briefly detained three paramedics and a volunteer.

Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim, reporting from Ramallah, said the violence comes amid escalating attacks on Palestinians during the olive harvest season.

“If you just go to pick your olives now … you could not return from the journey. It could be dangerous, not only because of Israeli restrictions against farmers going to their lands, but also because of the armed Israeli settlers who continue to assault Palestinians,” Ibrahim said.

She said the attacks have transformed what is traditionally an important social and economic season for Palestinian families.

“In October, usually Palestinians take days off from their jobs and go to the land, try and pick their olives because this is supposed to be a joyous season,” she added.

Ibrahim said attacks have affected olive farming, with at least 45,000 trees destroyed across the occupied West Bank this year.

Israeli forces and settlers also assaulted several Palestinians harvesting olives near Anata in the central occupied West Bank, Wafa reported.