Illegal Settlers Launched 71 West Bank Attacks in One Week – UN Report 

October 21, 2025 News
Illegal Jewish settlers routinely attack Palestinian farmers. (Photo: via ISM)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

Half of the attacks were linked to the olive harvest season, affecting Palestinians in 27 villages across the West Bank.

Illegal Israeli Jewish settlers have carried out 71 attacks against Palestinians across the occupied West Bank in one week, resulting in the killing of one Palestinian and the injury of 99 others, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

From October 7 to 13, OCHA said, two Palestinian men were killed, “including one in an attack by Israeli settlers”.

The killing occurred on October 8 when a 26-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed, and two others were injured with live ammunition fired by Israeli forces and settlers during a daytime Israeli settler attack in Deir Jarir village, in Ramallah governorate.

According to local sources cited by OCHA, the incident began when settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles near the village’s western entrance, damaging at least one.

“As residents gathered in the area, mutual stone-throwing ensued, during which both Israeli settlers and forces opened fire at Palestinians,” it said.

Live-bullet Wounds

One man was killed “after sustaining multiple live-bullet wounds,” and two others were injured with live ammunition. This is the second Palestinian fatality reported in the same area during settler attacks in less than two months, the OCHA report stated.

Half of the attacks were linked to the olive harvest season, “affecting Palestinians in 27 villages” across the West Bank.

 

During the same period, 156 Palestinians, including 12 children and three women, were injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem: 111 by Israeli forces, 43 by Israeli settlers, and two by either Israeli forces or settlers, OCHA stated.

Over 3,200 Palestinians have been injured across the West Bank so far in 2025, it added.

Marked Rise in Attacks

The OCHA noted that the settler attack in Deir Jarir village comes amid a marked rise in attacks since early 2025, following the construction of a new road connecting a nearby Israeli military base to Deir Jarir’s western entrance and the establishment of a nearby settlement outpost near Ofra settlement.

Between January and October 13, 2025, OCHA has documented 12 settler attacks in Deir Jarir that resulted in Palestinian casualties or property damage – “a three-fold increase compared with the annual average of about four incidents recorded between 2020 and 2024.”

x

The report said illegal settlers believed to be from the new outpost have repeatedly raided agricultural and residential areas in Deir Jarir, assaulted farmers and families working their land and caused extensive property damage, “including vandalism of at least eight homes and 12 vehicles, damage to dozens of olive trees, agricultural equipment and livestock shelters, and theft of livestock.”

So far in 2025, these attacks have resulted in the killing of two Palestinians and the injury of 28 others, including four children and three women. Of the injured, 13 were by Israeli forces, 10 by Israeli settlers, and five where it remains unknown if Israeli forces or settlers injured them, the report noted.

Olive Harvest Season

With the olive harvest season underway, half of the 71 settler attacks in the documented period in October were related to the ongoing olive harvest season, which officially began on 9 October, affecting Palestinians in 27 villages.

The incidents included “attacks on harvesters, theft of crops and harvesting equipment, and vandalism of olive trees, resulting in casualties, property damage, or both.”

In the northern West Bank, 16 settler attacks were reported, affecting people in 12 villages across Salfit, Tulkarm, Nablus and Qalqiliya governorates.

Water Tanks Damaged

In the central West Bank, 15 settler attacks were reported, all in Ramallah governorate, affecting people in 10 villages, the report stated.

In one large-scale attack on October 12, settlers believed to be from the Ramat Migron settlement outpost raided agricultural lands in Burqa village, cutting down over 800 saplings, including at least 170 olive saplings, 500 small citrus trees, and 145 grapevines.

They also punctured nine water tanks used for domestic and agricultural purposes, damaged a water pump, tore down an agricultural tent, dismantled three fences and two gates, and injured a donkey in the neck, OCHA stated.

In the southern West Bank, five settler attacks were reported, affecting five villages in the Bethlehem and Hebron (al-Khalil) governorates.

Forced Off Land

On October 13, Palestinian farmers near the community in Hebron (al-Khalil) governorate “were forced off their land by Israeli settlers and Israeli forces, which they had been unable to access since October 2023, intimidated by the presence of the settlers in the area.”

Israeli forces physically assaulted the farmers, confiscated vehicles, and ordered them not to return without “prior coordination,” OCHA stated.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces arrested four young men during a dawn raid on the city of Al-Bireh, while illegal settlers burned three uninhabited tents in Wadi Al-Jawaya in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

(PC, Al Mayadeen)

Related Articles