Israel blocks peace activists from reaching northern West Bank to show solidarity with Palestinians

Israeli police on Friday prevented hundreds of peace activists from reaching the village of Burin in the northern occupied West Bank to show solidarity with Palestinians.

In recent weeks, the West Bank has witnessed a notable uptick in attacks by illegal Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property, under the protection of the army.

The left-wing Israeli rights group Peace Now said in a post on US social media company X that police intercepted hundreds of Israeli peace activists on Friday morning as they headed to a solidarity olive-harvest event in the village of Burin.

The movement added that although illegal settler vehicles were allowed to pass freely, the area commander issued an order preventing the activists' buses from continuing toward the Palestinian village.

In response, Peace Now said the activists got off the buses and began a demonstration in which they denounced "ongoing settler violence and the government's continued failure to protect Palestinians from daily attacks."

According to Peace Now, Israeli police claimed the demonstration was illegal and threatened to arrest its organizers.

The group quoted its director, Lior Amihai, as saying: "While seven buses of peace activists are being blocked, settlers move about freely."

Amihai added: "We are demonstrating here against settler violence and against the obstruction of peace activists seeking to stand with our Palestinian partners."

The West Bank's olive harvest season, which began in October, has seen a surge in assaults against Palestinian farmers by settlers.

Attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers have escalated in the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war in October 2023, killing more than 1,070 Palestinians and injuring 10,300 others, Palestinian figures showed.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.