Former Israeli generals have backed Palestinian growers seeking to harvest olives in the occupied West Bank, voicing frustration over settler violence, Al Jazeera reported Thursday.
Reuters reported that former Israeli military officials joined farmers near Qusra on Nov. 3. Former Major General Eyal Ben-Reuven said the group included about 30 former senior officers, among them six generals. EconoTimes previously covered the visit near Qusra; landowner Nimr Nazzal said the volunteers’ presence let him reach his olive trees and accused the Israeli military of protecting settlers.
Ben-Reuven said rising settler violence led him to organize the effort months earlier. Yesh Din, an Israeli rights group, recorded 180 incidents involving physical attacks on Palestinian olive harvesters during the season’s first 35 days, according to EconoTimes’ earlier coverage. The group said Israeli forces were present in more than 23% of the settler-violence cases in its tally. Experts appointed by the United Nations urged Israel on Oct. 19 to protect farmers’ access to their groves, as EconoTimes reported in its account of the appeal.
