Daijiworld Media Network - Palestine

Palestine, Oct 22: A 55-year-old Palestinian woman was hospitalised after being struck on the head by a masked Jewish settler while harvesting olives in the village of Turmus Ayya on Sunday morning. The attack, captured on video by US journalist Jasper Nathaniel, shows the settler striking the woman unconscious with a wooden stick and hitting her again as she lay on the ground.

Nathaniel, who was present during the assault, said Israeli soldiers had been nearby earlier but did not intervene during the attack. Footage shows the assailant wielding a large stick with a knotted end, swinging it overhead before striking the woman multiple times. The incident involved at least 15 masked settlers, who also threw stones, damaged cars, and attacked Palestinian olive harvesters and activists.

The UN and human rights organisations have warned of increasing risks for Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest season. Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territory, stated, “Settler violence has skyrocketed in scale and frequency.”

Turmus Ayya, surrounded by Israeli settlements, has seen escalating settler attacks amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. UN reports indicate that the first half of 2025 witnessed 757 settler attacks causing casualties or property damage, a 13 percent increase from the previous year. During the opening week of the olive harvest, over 150 attacks were reported, with more than 700 olive trees damaged, uprooted, or poisoned, according to Muayyad Shaaban of the Palestinian Authority.

Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip during the 1967 Middle East War, while Palestinians continue to seek an independent state in these territories.