Palestinian Olive Harvest Held Under Restrictions in West Bank Village
Palestinian families harvested olives in al-Mughayyir, where residents say military access restrictions are limiting their ability to care for trees and reach farmland.
Palestinian families gathered olives in al-Mughayyir village in the occupied West Bank on Thursday during one of the limited periods when they were permitted to reach their groves.
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Israeli soldiers stood near the olive fields as residents collected what they could. Footage described in the source report showed tear gas being fired near the pickers, with smoke moving through the trees. A boy was shown throwing a tear-gas canister away.
Restricted access to farmland
Al-Mughayyir lies north-east of Ramallah and has about 3,000 residents and approximately 4,300 hectares of land. Residents say they can access barely 100 hectares.
According to villagers, reaching the olive groves requires prior approval from the Israeli military. Access is limited to a handful of days, while age restrictions and bans on some equipment further constrain the harvest.
Residents say the short visits do not allow them to maintain their trees properly, which require care throughout the year. The restrictions also affect the amount of produce families can collect during the harvest.
Pressure around the village
The village has faced increasing pressure from nearby Israeli settler outposts, according to the source report. Its eastern entrance has reportedly been closed by the army for more than two years.
Approximately 12,000 olive trees were uprooted from al-Mughayyir’s eastern plain in 2025. The source report also says six residents of the village were killed in 2026, without providing details about the circumstances of those deaths.
The United Nations has recorded 377 settler attacks involving casualties or property damage across the West Bank since September. The incidents reportedly left one Palestinian dead, injured more than 200 people and damaged 3,850 trees. The UN figure is described as the highest recorded since monitoring began in 2006.
Importance of the olive harvest
Olive production is a major source of income for Palestinian households. The harvest is estimated to provide vital earnings for between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinian families.
Most countries consider Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank illegal under international law, a position Israel disputes. In al-Mughayyir, residents continue to depend on limited access to their groves while facing restrictions that they say prevent regular cultivation and reduce the harvest’s economic value.
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