Beitillu, Ramallah District: Settlers pick and steal olives, break tree branches and throw stones at harvesters
16 October 2021
On 16 October 2021, at around 8:00 A.M., farmers from the village came to harvest olives in a grove that has 250 trees and lies about 800 meters east of the village. They discovered that settlers had harvested most of the olives from about 20 trees and broken the branches of seven other trees. The farmers began harvesting the remaining trees. At around 10:30 A.M., several settlers entered the grove and began provoking the farmers and arguing with them. They left a few minutes later. At around 12:30 P.M., about 10 young settlers armed with sticks arrived at the grove from the direction of the settlement of Nahaliel, which was established about 100 meters from the grove, and began throwing stones at the farmers. A military jeep passing by stopped and the soldiers got out and drove the settlers away from the area. The soldiers stayed near the grove and guarded the harvesters for about two hours and then left.
A year earlier, in early 2020, one of the farmers discovered that settlers had erected a wooden structure and a livestock enclosure in the grove and had planted about 20 tree seedlings. The farmer filed a complaint at the Binyamin police station but no action was taken, and the structure is still standing.
- Damage to property (agricultural)
- Physical assault
- Verbal confrontations and threats