Bethlehem /PNN/
In the past week, extremist settlers have intensified their attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters in Bethlehem Governorate, assaulting them and stealing the olives they gathered in multiple locations.
The extremist Israeli settlers Sunday evening stole the olive harvest of Palestinian locals in the village of Harmallah, southeast of Bethlehem, said security sources.
Local sources said that colonists stole the olive harvest of the Sabbah family in the Ain Hamda area on the main street in Harmallah.
The occupation forces and colonist have escalated their attacks on olive harvesters in Bethlehem and other provinces.
Since the beginning of the olive harvest season, Palestinian farmers have been subjected to almost daily attacks by settlers, involving physical assaults, property destruction, the forcible expulsion of farmers at gunpoint, the release of livestock onto their land and crop theft.
Also, Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, attacked Palestinian olive pickers in the village of Kisan, east of Bethlehem.
The Secretary of the Fatah Movement in Kisan, Ahmed Ghazal, said that a group of Israeli extremist settlers attacked the olive pickers, threw stones at them in the Wadi Jahar area, and forced them at gunpoint to leave their land.
It is noteworthy that the occupation forces and their settlers have escalated their repeated attacks against olive pickers in the Bethlehem governorate and other governorates.
The olive harvest season is crucial for thousands of Palestinian families, many of whom rely on it for their livelihood.
