| Measure | October 2026 |
|---|
| People directly harmed in settler incidents | at least 356 (22 children, 22 women) |
| Trees damaged | 5,890, including 4,498 olive trees |
| Olive thefts recorded | 165 |
| Sheep reported stolen | 384 |
| Attempts to set up new outposts | 28 |
| Demolitions | 62 operations, 129 structures |
| Inhabited homes demolished | 62 |
| People affected by demolitions | at least 220 (125 children) |
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Hebron governorate accounted for 3,366 of the damaged trees, the commission said. It also recorded five land orders covering about 229.6 dunams (roughly 57 acres). These included two declarations of \"state land\" dated Oct. 18: 118.75 dunams near Sa'ir and al-Shuyukh in Hebron governorate, and 64.06 dunams near Battir in Bethlehem governorate.\n\nThe commission listed five construction tenders for 1,629 housing units. Three were in East Jerusalem: 730 units in Pisgat Ze'ev, 502 in Gilo and 47 in Givat Hamatos. A fourth was for 350 units in Ma'ale Adumim. Israel regards Pisgat Ze'ev, Gilo and Givat Hamatos as neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Most other countries regard them as settlements on land Israel captured in 1967.\n\nThe commission called for \"serious international action that goes beyond statements of condemnation,\" including steps to \"hold accountable those responsible,\" in our translation of the Arabic report.\n\n## What the UN counted\n\nOCHA uses a narrower definition. It counts only settler attacks that cause casualties or property damage. Its figure of 397 for Oct. 1 to Oct. 26 cannot be compared directly with the commission's 1,369.\n\nFor the week of Oct. 20 to 26, OCHA recorded 62 such attacks across 49 communities, against a weekly average of 53 so far in 2026. Ramallah governorate accounted for 25 of the 62. OCHA said 38 attacks that week were linked to the olive harvest, including seven in Area B, where the PA runs civil affairs.\n\nThe same week, OCHA said 57 Palestinians were injured in the West Bank: 23 by settlers and 34 by Israeli forces. It also recorded the displacement of 24 herding families, about 94 people, from Khirbet Ras al Ahmar in Tubas governorate \"amid increasing access restrictions and repeated settler attacks and intimidation.\"\n\nOCHA also described access limits. It said coordinated access for farmers was suspended in parts of Jenin and Nablus governorates and in areas behind the barrier in Qalqiliya. In Salfit governorate, it said, scheduled access near Mas'ha and Az Zawiya was canceled several times, \"sometimes with less than a day's notice.\"\n\nThe UN report also covered violence against Israelis. On Oct. 23, two Palestinians opened fire at a checkpoint in Hebron, killing two Israeli soldiers and injuring four others before they were killed. Israel then launched an operation in Hebron city that OCHA said displaced about 3,000 people, a figure still under verification. We covered the later [Israeli withdrawal from parts of Hebron](https://567politics.com/news/palestine-hebron-israeli-withdrawal-displaced-return-pa-security-november-2026) in a separate story.\n\n## How Israeli authorities describe the harvest\n\nIsraeli military statements focus on coordination and security. When troops detained about 90 Rabbis for Human Rights volunteers who were harvesting with Palestinian farmers near Nahalin on Oct. 21, the IDF said the group had not asked in advance. \"The landowner was informed that he must coordinate the olive harvest on his plot of land and was provided with the relevant contact information to arrange a harvest at a later date,\" the army said, [the Jerusalem Post reported](https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-912403). Kan News later reported that the area did not need prior coordination, according to the same article.\n\nThe IDF's Arabic-language spokesperson said the army would \"not allow inciting elements to exploit civil activity to provoke violence or create disturbances. The olive harvest season is an agricultural activity; it must not be transformed into a period of violence and conflict.\"\n\nIsraeli police have made arrests over settler attacks. On Oct. 19, police and the Shin Bet security service arrested 10 people in a raid police called Operation Olive Leaf, [CBS News reported](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-israel-west-bank-settler-violence-palestinians-arrests/). The arrests followed several reported attacks on harvesters, including one on Oct. 16 in which a masked group injured Palestinians and Washington Post photographer Heidi Levine. \"Items linking the suspects to the alleged offenses were seized, and several vehicles were confiscated,\" police said. US Ambassador Mike Huckabee had called the attack on Levine an \"act of terror carried out by masked cowards.\" Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: \"We've asked the Israelis and continue to ask them to crack down on that stuff.\"\n\nThe Israeli military also said it had begun dismantling a settler outpost near Wadi a-Rahim after Israeli civilians sprayed graffiti and set fire to a shed there, CBS reported.\n\nWe did not find a response from the IDF, COGAT or the Israeli government to the commission's October totals specifically. Israeli agencies do not publish a comparable monthly count of settler incidents.\n\n## How settler leaders describe the season\n\nSettler leaders frame the harvest differently. At an online meeting before the season, Yesha Council chairman Israel Ganz said: \"In recent years, the olive harvest has turned into a festival for anarchist organizations, who exploit it to harm farmers, the settlement enterprise, and the image of the State of Israel,\" [JNS reported](https://www.jns.org/news/israel-news/judea-and-samaria-farmers-brace-for-disruptions-during-olive-harvest) on Oct. 7.\n\nAvi Cohen-Scali, director-general of Israel's Diaspora Affairs ministry, said at the same meeting: \"The olive harvest campaign is not humanitarian aid to Palestinians, but a campaign of hatred and violence against the residents of Judea and Samaria.\" Judea and Samaria is the term Israeli officials use for the West Bank. The district police chief, Moshe Pinchi, said police would work to keep out foreigners who \"come under the guise of tourism or human rights\" but work to delegitimize Israel, as JNS paraphrased him.\n\n## How Palestinian officials and rights groups describe it\n\nThe PA commission said the timing of the incidents with the harvest \"reflects direct targeting of the historic and economic bond between the Palestinian farmer and his land,\" in our translation. It said many incidents happened \"under the protection of the occupation forces and with their participation in many cases.\"\n\nAmnesty International goes further. \"Once again, Israel's apartheid system is turning the olive harvest into a season of horror for Palestinian families across the occupied West Bank,\" said Heba Morayef, its regional director, in an [Oct. 19 statement](https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/10/states-must-act-as-israeli-state-driven-settler-violence-escalates-at-start-of-palestine-olive-harvest/). Amnesty called on states to halt trade with settlements and impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials. Israel rejects the apartheid label and Amnesty's findings.\n\nSome Israeli voices share part of this criticism. Yizhar Hess, vice chairman of the World Zionist Organization, said after the Nahalin detentions: \"We must not accept a reality in which those who act in the name of justice are arrested, while those who resort to violence enjoy de facto impunity.\"\n\n## Limits of the data\n\nReaders should weigh several limits:\n\n* **Definitions differ.** The PA commission counts a wide range of acts, including closures and military orders. OCHA counts only settler attacks with casualties or damage. The two totals measure different things.\n* **Attribution.** The commission attributes each incident to forces or settlers. OCHA notes some incidents in which settlers were \"accompanied by Israeli forces.\" Neither source publishes incident-level data for October that would let readers check each case.\n* **No Israeli counterpart.** Israel's military and police publish case-by-case statements, not monthly totals. That leaves no official Israeli figure to compare.\n* **Partial month.** OCHA's 397 figure covers Oct. 1 to Oct. 26 only. Its full-month figure was not yet published at the time of writing.\n* **Harvest timing.** Some rise from September to October may reflect the harvest itself, which brings more Palestinians to land near settlements and outposts. Neither source separates that effect.\n\n## Why the numbers matter for politics\n\nThe figures arrive as Israel's parties negotiate a new government. Settlement policy and the West Bank are among the issues that divide the blocs, as our coverage of the [opposition's push to form a government](https://567politics.com/news/israel-opposition-leaders-recommend-eisenkot-herzog-consultations-arab-parties-november-2026) and [Netanyahu's call for a broad government](https://567politics.com/news/israel-netanyahu-broad-government-liberman-eisenkot-arab-parties-november-2026) shows. The Joint List's leader, Yousef Jabareen, has said his list cannot join any government \"as long as the occupation of our people in the West Bank continues,\" [he told The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/nov/02/israel-opposition-bloc-arab-coalition-knesset-yousef-jabareen).\n\nThe PA, for its part, faces questions about its own reach. Our report on [Gaza's police and the stalled handover of governance](https://567politics.com/news/palestine-gaza-police-strike-hamas-governance-ncag-stalled-november-2026) covers one side of that debate. For how we handle contested figures from governments and advocacy groups, see our [methodology](https://567politics.com/methodology).","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}