RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) \u2014 Israeli settlers descended on Palestinian olive harvesters and activists this week in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, beating them with clubs in an attack Palestinian health officials said sent at least one woman to the hospital with serious injuries.<\/p>\n
The attack Sunday in the town of Turmus Ayya, which was captured in videos obtained by The Associated Press, came as Palestinians say settler violence in the region is worsening.<\/a> The United Nations and rights groups have raised the alarm as harvest season begins and Palestinian farmers are at growing risk while gathering olives.<\/p>\n \u201cSettler violence has skyrocketed in scale and frequency,\u201d Ajith Sunghay, the head of the U.N. Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territory, said in a statement released Tuesday. \u201cTwo weeks into the start of the 2025 harvest, we have already seen severe attacks by armed settlers against Palestinian men, women, children and foreign solidarity activists.\u201d<\/p>\n In one of the videos obtained by the AP, a masked man was seen running through an olive grove and beating at least two people with a club, including a woman as she lay motionless on the ground. The masked man appeared to be wearing tzitzit, a ritual fringed garment for Jews.<\/p>\n The woman was hospitalized with serious injures, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said.<\/p>\n In a separate video, more than a dozen masked men were seen running down a village road alongside an olive grove, pursuing a car. One settler clubbed the car and opened the door. A passenger managed to escape and run away with the group of men running after him.<\/p>\n A third video showed flames and smoke rising from several torched cars.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Channel 12 reported that the head of the West Bank police force said in an internal police WhatsApp group that the footage of the masked settler beating the woman \u201ckept him up at night\u201d and instructed officers to bring the settler to justice.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military and police did not respond to an AP request for comment on the attack.<\/p>\n Turmus Ayya, whose population is predominantly Palestinian American, has long been a target of settler attacks, but villagers say the violence worsened<\/a> during the Israel-Hamas war. It\u2019s nestled in a valley surrounded by hilltops crowned with Israeli settlements and outposts.<\/a> Since t he killing<\/a> of a 14-year old Palestinian-American, Amer Rabee, by Israeli forces in the town in April protests against settler violence and the military\u2019s perceived failure to curb it have provoked regular clashes with settlers.<\/p>\n