Israeli settlers and soldiers chased away Palestinians and activists as they attempted to harvest olives in the West Bank village of Beita, near Nablus on Saturday (October 3), on the second day in row.

A Palestinian landowner and farmer Ahmad Maalah, said Israeli forces prevented them from harvesting their olives, while settlers and soldiers were seen in the area as the group of Palestinians was forced away from the groves, explaining that the situation is becoming harder for farmers in the West Bank each year.

Reuters contacted the Israeli military for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Tensions and violence between settlers and Palestinians often increase during the olive harvest season.

Many Palestinian families rely on the annual olive harvest as a source of income, with the fruit and its oil forming a cornerstone of the rural economy and a symbol of attachment to the land, often passed down through generations of farming families.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

NEAR NABLUS, WEST BANK (OCTOBER 3, 2026) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. PALESTINIANS AND ACTIVISTS RUNNING IN OLIVE GROVES

2. ISRAELI ARMY IN OLIVE GROVES, PALESTINIAN MAN STOPPED BY ARMY

3. OLIVE TREE

4. PALESTINIANS PREPARING THEIR TOOLS TO HARVEST OLIVES

5. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIANS PICKING OLIVES

6. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FARMER AND LAND OWNER, AHMAD RUSHDI MAALAH, SAYING:

"What is simply happening, is that we, the farmers, the owners of the olives, we cannot reach our own lands that we have inherited from our grandfathers, there is this little plot called, Khalleh, they have closed the two roads that lead to it, they blocked them with rubble and prevented people from reaching them. Aside from that, people who tried to reach their lands today were prevented, there were settlers and the army as well, and they fired tear-gas on the people and chased them out of their lands and prevented them from reaching."

7. OLIVES HARVESTED ON TARP

8. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FARMER AND LAND OWNER, AHMAD RUSHDI MAALAH, SAYING:

"I am now in an area that is more than 2 or 3 km away from the settlement outpost, and it is by the village, and you can see the house there, the first house in the area (within the village) and it is considered part of the village, and now it seems that their policy (the Israelis) is to increase the area of the lands that people are prevented from entering."

9. OLIVE TREE

10. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN FARMER AND LAND OWNER, AHMAD RUSHDI MAALAH, SAYING:

"Seems like this year is tougher from previous years, I have come during the past years, and have harvested the olives, but this year, the conditions are much more difficult."

11. VIEW OF BEITA VILLAGE NEAR NABLUS