NEW YORK, Oct. 16 -- Many Palestinian communities in the West Bank began picking their olives early this year, before the harvest officially opened on Thursday, to lower the risk of attack, the UN humanitarian office OCHA said. The precaution has not been enough. Settler attacks tied to the harvest have already passed the total for all of last season.

OCHA's count, read out at the UN's daily briefing by deputy spokesman Farhan Haq, is nearly 200 attacks that caused casualties or property damage, against 185 across the entire 2025 season. They have killed one Palestinian, injured more than 120 others and damaged more than 2,500 trees or saplings. About 80 per cent of the incidents came in the past two weeks.

Abdul Latif Al Bazzari, 59, c...