Israeli Settlers Torch Olive Trees, Attack Palestinian Harvesters in West Bank

BBC News cameras captured Israeli settlers attacking Palestinian olive harvesters in the occupied West Bank, documenting a violent confrontation during the annual harvest season. Several dozen settlers dressed in black charged down a hill near an outpost—illegal under both Israeli and international law—toward a field where Palestinians and activists were gathering olives. The attackers set fire to about a dozen olive trees and hurled stones from slingshots at those working the land. Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine, who was present at the scene, was taken to hospital following the incident. She later told reporters about her experience at the scene of the attack, which underscored the risks faced by journalists and activists documenting settler violence in the region. The report offers on-the-ground evidence of the tensions surrounding the olive harvest, a critical economic and cultural season for Palestinian communities. The BBC's firsthand account adds documented visual evidence to the long-running debate over settler violence and the protection of Palestinian agricultural land in the occupied territory.