Israeli Settlers Attack West Bank Olive Harvesters; Strikes Pound Lebanon
RAMALLAH (Dispatches) -- Israeli forces and settlers carried out a series of attacks across the occupied West Bank on Saturday, while artillery and airstrikes pounded southern Lebanon in continued violations of a ceasefire, and Israeli incursions into southern Syria persisted.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian olive pickers east of Nablus, forcing farmers off their land after stealing equipment and mats used for the harvest, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
In the nearby village of Salem, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at farmers picking olives, setting several olive trees ablaze; Nablus municipal fire crews extinguished the blaze.
Two Palestinian men were beaten by settlers while picking olives north of Ramallah, and the Palestinian Red Crescent treated them at a hospital.
In a separate incident south of Hebron (Al-Khalil), Israeli forces arrested farmer Bader Muhammad al-Adra as he plowed his land in the Deirat area east of Yatta, according to the Al-Baidar human rights organization.
Elsewhere, Israeli troops raided a wedding hall in the village of Al-Mughayyir northeast of Ramallah, abducting the groom, Hassan Nabil Abu Alia, and three other Palestinians, while searching female guests and confiscating gold jewelry, according to Palestinian media.
A 27-year-old Palestinian was shot in the thigh with live ammunition during confrontations in the town of Jaba south of Jenin.
In Lebanon, Israeli warplanes renewed airstrikes on the area between the towns of Nabatieh al-Fawqa and Kfar Tebnit for the second time in less than 15 minutes on Saturday afternoon, the National News Agency reported.
Israeli artillery also shelled the towns of Khiam and Kheraybeh, the area between Mifdoun and Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, the outskirts of Baraachit, and the town of Mansouri in southern Lebanon, while an Israeli Merkava tank fired several shells at the outskirts of Baraachit.
The attacks continued despite a trilateral framework agreement signed in June 2026 providing for an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
In southern Syria, Israeli forces continued incursions that have numbered nearly 70 since the beginning of November, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Saturday, Qatari news agency QNA reported that Israeli forces penetrated the village of Jbata al-Khashab in the Quneitra countryside with 10 military vehicles and abducted a young man from the town, while also shelling the outskirts of Bariqah with artillery and flying warplanes over Daraa province.
The Observatory documented kidnappings, house raids, temporary checkpoints, and restrictions on access to farmland across Quneitra and western Dara’a, including forces opening fire toward journalists documenting violations in Bariqah.
Separately, violence continued in other parts of Syria. A hand grenade explosion in the city of Idlib on Saturday injured two people, according to the Syrian news outlet Al-Ikhbariyah.
Unknown gunmen also attacked military personnel affiliated with the takfiri regime of Abu Muhammad al-Jolani in eastern Deir ez-Zor province, killing one soldier and wounding two others, according to his defense ministry.