RAMALLAH – This week, a disturbing incident unfolded in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as Israeli settlers launched an assault on Palestinian olive harvesters and activists. Armed with clubs, the settlers attacked in the town of Turmus Ayya, with Palestinian health officials reporting that at least one woman sustained serious injuries and required hospitalization.

The attack, which took place on Sunday, was captured on video and later obtained by The Associated Press. As the olive harvest season gets underway, Palestinians have voiced increasing concerns over the escalation of settler violence in the region. Both the United Nations and various rights organizations have expressed alarm over the heightened risks that Palestinian farmers face during this critical time.

Ajith Sunghay, who heads the U.N. Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territories, issued a statement on Tuesday highlighting the situation. “Settler violence has skyrocketed in scale and frequency,” he noted. “Just two weeks into the 2025 harvest, we are already witnessing severe attacks by armed settlers on Palestinian men, women, children, and foreign solidarity activists.”

One particularly harrowing video clip reveals a masked individual sprinting through an olive grove, wielding a club and striking at least two people, including a woman who lay motionless on the ground. The masked assailant appeared to be wearing tzitzit, a traditional fringed garment worn by Jews, adding a complex layer to the incident.

The woman, who bore the brunt of this brutal attack, was taken to a hospital due to the severity of her injuries, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a separate video, more than a dozen masked men were seen running down a village road alongside an olive grove, pursuing a car. One settler clubbed the car and opened the door. A passenger managed to escape and run away with the group of men running after him.

A third video showed flames and smoke rising from several torched cars.

Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the head of the West Bank police force said in an internal police WhatsApp group that the footage of the masked settler beating the woman “kept him up at night” and instructed officers to bring the settler to justice.

Israel’s military and police did not respond to an AP request for comment on the attack.

Turmus Ayya, whose population is predominantly Palestinian American, has long been a target of settler attacks, but villagers say the violence worsened during the Israel-Hamas war. It’s nestled in a valley surrounded by hilltops crowned with Israeli settlements and outposts. Since t he killing of a 14-year old Palestinian-American, Amer Rabee, by Israeli forces in the town in April protests against settler violence and the military’s perceived failure to curb it have provoked regular clashes with settlers.

More broadly, s ettler violence is surging across the West Bank. The U.N. says the first half of 2025 has seen 757 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage — a 13% increase compared with the same period last year.

The first week of olive harvest season has seen more than 150 settler attacks and over 700 olive trees uprooted, broken or poisoned, according to Muayyad Shaaban, who heads an office in the Palestinian Authority that is tracking the violence.

Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories for a future independent state. Settler advocates hold key Israeli Cabinet positions that grant them and the settlers an important say over the West Bank.

___

Melzer reported from Tel Aviv.