Story perspectives

UN reports nearly 200 harvest-linked settler attacks this year

By Drooid · Oct 20, 2026, 6:12 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Rabbi Lior Issues Edict

Hard-line rabbi Dov Lior issued a halachic edict allowing Jews to harvest olives on Palestinian land as an ownership claim.
The olive harvest supports up to 110,000 Palestinian families, so each attack harms their livelihoods.
United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported nearly 200 harvest-linked settler attacks this year, exceeding 185 in 2025.
Settlers tried to set fire to a trailer and construction equipment in Wadi Rahim, causing property damage.

Summary

Settlers Attack Diplomats

Settlers attacked diplomats, a French mayor and a U.S. journalist during a West Bank olive harvest.
Journalist Heidi Levine suffered broken vertebrae, a broken rib and leg wounds and was hospitalized.
Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot condemned the attack and said he will push for EU sanctions.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Israel to increase deterrence of settler attacks.

History

Historical Context

After Ariel Sharon’s September 28, 2000 visit to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount sparked the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Israeli forces responded with live fire, killing 47 Palestinians and wounding 1,885 in the first five days while firing roughly one million rounds. Decades later, settler attacks condemned by Maxime Prevot and Marco Rubio threaten the 1993 Oslo peace framework.

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Rabbi Lior Issues Edict

Hard-line rabbi Dov Lior issued a halachic edict allowing Jews to harvest olives on Palestinian land as an ownership claim.
The olive harvest supports up to 110,000 Palestinian families, so each attack harms their livelihoods.
United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported nearly 200 harvest-linked settler attacks this year, exceeding 185 in 2025.
Settlers tried to set fire to a trailer and construction equipment in Wadi Rahim, causing property damage.

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