A 55-year-old Palestinian woman was hospitalised after a masked Jewish settler struck her on the head while she was picking olives.The unprovoked attack took place on Sunday morning in the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya in the occupied West Bank and was captured on video by US journalist Jasper Nathaniel.Nathaniel said the settler struck the woman unconscious with a stick and hit her again as she lay on the ground. He rejected claims that Israeli soldiers intervened, saying, “no Israeli forces showed up to the attack at any point.”According to Nathaniel, soldiers had been present before the assault and had “lured” him and others into an “ambush” before driving away moments prior to the settlers’ attack.Footage shows the assailant wielding a large wooden stick with a knotted end, resembling a club, which he swings overhead before striking Abu Alia.“It’s the most vivid image that’s ever been seared in my mind,” Nathaniel was quoted as saying by the BBC. “He swings it one time and I saw her body go completely limp. And then he stood over her and hit her twice more.”The assault was part of a larger incident involving at least 15 masked settlers who threw stones and attacked Palestinian olive harvesters and activists, including Nathaniel. One car was set on fire, and several others had their windows smashed.The UN and rights groups have warned that Palestinian farmers face increasing risks as the olive harvest season begins.“Settler violence has skyrocketed in scale and frequency,” stated Ajith Sunghay, the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Palestinian territory on Tuesday.Turmus Ayya, a predominantly Palestinian-American village situated in a valley surrounded by Israeli settlements, has long been targeted by settler violence, which residents say has escalated amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The United Nations reports that the first half of 2025 saw 757 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage, marking a 13 percent increase compared with the same period last year.During the opening week of the olive harvest, more than 150 attacks were recorded, with over 700 olive trees reportedly uprooted, damaged, or poisoned, according to Muayyad Shaaban, head of a Palestinian Authority office monitoring the violence, as cited by AP.Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East War. Palestinians aim to establish a future independent state in these territories.
