Colonists attack shepherd and steal olive harvest in Masafer Yatta

HEBRON: Israeli colonists attacked a Palestinian shepherd and stole olive harvest today in the Masafer Yatta region, south of Hebron, according to local sources. Osama Makhamra, an anti-settlement activist, reported that a group of colonists assaulted Hassan Shnaran, a local herder, while he was tending to his sheep in the village of Susiya. Local sources also noted that other colonists stole olives from land owned by the Nawaj'ah family. Of note, Israeli occupation authorities prevent Palestinians from harvesting olives in large areas of Masafer Yatta, citing proximity to colonial settlements or declaring them closed military zones, while allowing colonists to seize the crops. Simultaneously, Israeli colonist militias attacked olive harvesters in the town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, compelling them to leave their lands. Mohammad Azem, the head of the Sebastia village council, reported that dozens of colonists, accompanied by Israeli forces, forced olive pickers to vacate their fields in the western part of the town and stole their olive harvest. This marks the fifth incident where colonists and the Israeli military have pressured citizens to abandon their olive groves, using threats of violence to prevent them from working. The towns and villages of Nablus have been experiencing repeated assaults from both the Israeli military and colonists, including gunfire directed at residents, interference with their work, and forced evacuations from their lands. Current estimates indicate that farmers may be unable to access 80,000 dunums of olive-growing land due to threats from colonists protected by the Israeli military. This situation could result in a loss of approximately 15% of this year's olive harvest. Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA