GENEVA

UN experts on Wednesday urged Israel to stop violent attacks on Palestinian farmers by illegal Israeli settlers, which are also threatening their olive harvest.

In a statement, the experts stressed that Palestinian farmers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, who rely heavily on the olive harvest for a living, are facing "the most dangerous" olive season ever, and that ongoing Israeli practices are undermining Palestinian families' food sovereignty and are "yet another attack on Palestinian self-determination."

"In 2023, the harvest was marred by a sharp increase in movement restrictions and violence by Israeli forces and settlers," the experts said.

"Last year, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, faced the highest level of Israeli settler violence, including settlers physically assaulting Palestinians, setting fire or damaging their property and crops, stealing sheep, blocking them from accessing their land, water and grazing areas, causing a record number of Palestinians to be displaced after being forced to leave their homes and lands.

"Last year, Israel also seized more Palestinian land than in any year in the past 30 years," they noted.

They said restricting olive harvests, destroying orchards and banning access to water sources is "an attempt by Israel to expand its illegal settlements."

In 2023, more than 96,000 dunums of olive-cultivated land across the occupied West Bank remained unharvested due to Israeli government restrictions, resulting in the loss of 1,200 metric tons of olive oil worth $10 million, they said.

"This situation is expected to worsen as Israeli authorities have increasingly revoked or failed to issue ‘prior coordination’ permits, which are necessary for farmers to access their lands in certain areas," the experts warned. "During the 2023 season, nearly all of these approvals were cancelled, and agricultural gates along the West Bank Barrier were largely closed, further obstructing access."

They urged Israeli forces to refrain from interfering with this year’s olive harvest.

"Israel is under international legal obligation to first and foremost end their occupation of Palestinian land, which amounts to annexation including through racial segregation and apartheid, immediately cease all new settlement activities and evacuate all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territory.

"It is also under the obligation to provide full reparation for the damage caused by its human rights violations to all persons concerned, including by returning land, and allowing displaced Palestinians to return to their homes," they said.