This evening, Thursday, settlers attacked farmers while they were picking olives in the Ramin Plain, east of Tulkarm, and forced them to leave their lands at gunpoint.

According to local sources, settlers, one of whom was wearing an occupation army uniform and carrying a weapon, stormed the place, prevented them from completing their work of picking olives from their lands, and forced them to leave the area, indicating that the armed settler brought his sheep to the plain lands, in a provocative move against the farmers.

The sources added that this settler had previously seized areas of the plain's lands, and established a settlement outpost on them where he grazes his sheep. He constantly attacks farmers while they are working on their lands and forces them to leave them, in addition to the attacks of settlers coming from the nearby "Anab" settlement from time to time on the plain's lands, by burning and vandalizing trees.

This year, the olive harvest season in the West Bank is witnessing repeated attacks by settlers and occupation forces, such as burning and cutting down olive trees, stealing the crop, and preventing farmers from reaching their lands.

This morning, settlers opened fire on participants in an event organised by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission to help farmers from the village of Kafr al-Labad, east of Tulkarm, pick olives from their lands.

UN experts said yesterday that farmers in the occupied West Bank are facing the most dangerous olive season ever this year.

They considered that restricting the olive harvest season, destroying orchards and preventing access to water sources are attempts by Israel to expand its illegal settlements.