On Tuesday, Israeli settlers backed by the occupation forces attacked Palestinian families picking olives in the city of Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Akram Abu Ashkheidem told Anadolu Agency that settlers, accompanied by the Israeli occupation forces, attacked his family while picking olives in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood, and prevented them from completing the picking process.
Abu Ashkheidem added that the occupation forces confiscated the harvesting tools, announced the closure of the area, prevented its entry and forced the residents to leave.
For his part, Issa Amro, founder of the (non-governmental) "Youth Against Settlements" group, said that the army "prevented Palestinian families during the past few days from picking olives in Tel Rumeida (central Hebron), adjacent to settlement outposts, under the pretext of the Jewish holidays."
He added that "the occupation army allowed the families to pick the fruits today (Tuesday) after the holidays, but the settlers attacked the olive pickers and the foreign solidarity activists who came to help them, so the army intervened to prevent the picking."
Amr pointed out that "Palestinian families own perennial olive trees in Tel Rumeida, but the Israeli army deployed in the vicinity of the settlement outposts prevents plowing the land and caring for the trees."
The neighborhood is located within the old city of Hebron, which is under full Israeli control, and is home to about 400 settlers, guarded by about 1,500 Israeli soldiers.
According to the Hebron agreement of January 17, 1997, between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, the city was divided into H1 and H2 areas, under which Israel was given complete control over the Old City and its outskirts.
Siege of Nablus
On the other hand, the Israeli army continues to impose a strict siege on the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank for 8 days, after the killing of an Israeli soldier in a shooting attack by a Palestinian in the settlement of "Shave Shimron" west of the city last week.
The occupation forces tightened their punitive measures by tightening restrictions on the entry and exit of Palestinians from the governorate, and closing most of the city’s entrances with earth mounds, cement blocks and military checkpoints, at a time when it allowed entry and exit at some checkpoints after citizens were subjected to thorough inspection.
The official in charge of the settlement file (a government entity) in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, said that the army "completely closes most of the city's entrances, and completely prevents movement in some of them." He added that the closure "is carried out by setting up physical barriers and manned by soldiers that make passage a difficult task that takes several hours."
Douglas pointed to the "negative effects of the Israeli closure, including obstructing the people of the city who are employed outside it to reach their jobs," and added that An-Najah University (non-governmental) was forced to close its doors to students several days ago.
Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh called on the international community and the International Red Cross to enter the besieged cities by the Israeli occupation forces to witness what is happening and work to lift the siege on them.
He also called on the Israeli government to stop its aggressive measures against the Palestinian people.
In two separate statements, the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (NGOs) and the National Initiative Movement demanded an end to the "collective punishments" on Nablus.