West Bank farmers race to harvest crops amid settler arson attacks

Hamad Jazi and his nephews race under the blazing sun to collect wheat from their West Bank field, a desperate effort to salvage their harvest before Israeli settlers can set it ablaze. Settlers have recently set fire to crops in the area, and Jazi fears his wheat could suffer a similar fate.

"The settlers have set fires twice already -- yesterday and the day before," Jazi told AFP. "If you think back 10, 15 or 20 years ago, this season used to be a season of abundance. Today, you are racing against time just to harvest quickly and leave," he added.

His village of As-Sawiyah, in the center of the occupied West Bank, is situated in a valley overlooked by three Israeli settlements. Excluding East Jerusalem, over 500,000 Israelis reside in the occupied West Bank, in settlements considered illegal under international law, among approximately three million Palestinians. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

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The settlers have set fires twice already -- yesterday and the day before. If you think back 10, 15 or 20 years ago, this season used to be a season of abundance. Today, you are racing against time just to harvest quickly and leave.

Rights groups report that some settlers, shielded by impunity, harass rural Palestinian communities through vandalism, arson, and sometimes violence. Data from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA indicates that 2026 has been one of the most violent years, with an average of six attacks per day. This surge in violence coincides with the expansion of settlements, which some in the Israeli political class threaten to annex.

Mahmud Fatafta of the Palestinian Authority's agriculture ministry stated that settlers killed or stole 8,000 goats or sheep in the West Bank in 2026. His ministry's data also shows that 41,000 olive trees, a crop deeply symbolic to Palestinians, were damaged by settlers or the Israeli military in the same year.

"In the past, when we went out into the fields, the olive harvest was a celebration, the grain harvest was a celebration," Jazi said, his face etched with the sun's weariness. "Now, we live those moments like thieves. We go and 'steal' our own olives or our own crops," he lamented, noting that the Israeli military requires him to coordinate before entering his fields.

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In the past, when we went out into the fields, the olive harvest was a celebration, the grain harvest was a celebration. Now, we live those moments like thieves. We go and 'steal' our own olives or our own crops.