Israeli forces help settlers seize West Bank olive groves: witnesses
A Palestinian takes part in a community action to clear the area around the olive trees in preparation for the upcoming harvest season on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Birzeit. (File/AP)Short Url
Injuries were reported in several locations in the West Bank
RAMALLAH: Israeli soldiers on Saturday backed settlers who seized Palestinian olive groves at the start of the harvest season, with injuries reported in several places across the occupied West Bank, witnesses and medics said.
October is the traditional start of the harvest for Palestinians, many of whom regard olive trees as a cultural symbol.
This year’s season comes as violence soars, including near-daily attacks or thefts by settlers, who enjoy political support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government ahead of October 27 elections.
Near the village of Beita in the northern West Bank, Palestinians began the harvest in the morning when they were confronted by settlers, who briefly backed down when faced down by the farmers as well as visiting solidarity activists, some of them Israeli, witnesses said.
Soldiers then rushed in, sending the farmers and activists running out, and detained a number of the Palestinians, including one who could be heard screaming inside a military jeep, an AFP journalist witnessed.
The Israeli army detained six journalists including one from AFP. They were released after 20 minutes without charge.
“Today, as usual, we went to harvest olives on the land where we, our parents and our grandparents grew up and lived,” farmer Mohammed Hamayel told AFP.
The army’s aim was “clearing the area for the settlers so they can harvest the olives. This is our land and, God willing, we will remain steadfast,” he said.
AFP has contacted the Israeli military for comment.
Elsewhere in the northern West Bank, Israeli soldiers fired tear gas at Palestinian farmers on the olive groves, setting the dry fields on fire, an AFP journalist witnessed. Farmers and firefighters rushed to put the fires out.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said 12 Palestinians were taken to hospital after being beaten by settlers in five separate incidents Saturday.
The violence came after settlers killed one Palestinian on Thursday and another on Friday, according to Palestinian officials.
The violence has caused mounting international concern, with Britain recently leading sanctions on products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.
Netanyahu has voiced anger over the criticism, blaming incidents on a small number of people that he called juvenile delinquents.
Violence has also affected Israelis, with a Palestinian shooting dead a settler in September.
A suspected plague outbreak has erupted in Russia — killing a young lab worker, forcing nearly 200 people into isolation and triggering accusations that Vladimir Putin’s regime is trying to keep the infection’s possible spread under wraps.
The alarm was raised in Siberia after a worker at an anti-plague laboratory died of the disease, which killed tens of millions in the medieval Black Death, according to a report fromThe Moscow Times.
Anna Popova, who heads Russia’s public-health watchdog, then rushed 2,600 miles from Moscow to the Irkutsk region as authorities quarantined a hospital and placed scores of people who had come into contact with the victim under medical observation.
Black Death Flagellants in the Netherlands scourging themselves in atonement, believing that the Black Death is a punishment from God for their sins, 1349.
Over the course of the past year, we’ve documented plenty of Profiles in Courage who have bettered countless lives. These exemplary men and women have found cures to deadly diseases, helped Americans stay connected to internet services during a pandemic, and given back to the most vulnerable members of society. Yet this month’s Profile in Courage – Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman – may be the most courageous of all. On the fateful day of January 6, 2021, Officer Goodman diverted an angry mob of insurrectionists away from lawmakers, buying members of Congress precious time to escape to designated hiding locations. And, for protecting hundreds from an angry mob of lawbreakers, Goodman is truly a Profile in Courage.
Watching footage of Officer Goodman diverting the mob from Senate chambers, it’s clear that Goodman is an experienced officer capable of thinking on his feet in high pressure situations. This particular set of skills stems from Goodman’s four years as an infantryman in the army. According to Military.com, “He deployed to Iraq with 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), from 2005 to 2006. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and Army Good Conduct Medal.” Whether in or out of the military, Goodman gained a reputation as someone ready to unflinchingly put their life on the line to protect others. After hearing about Goodman’s actions on January 6, a friend of his responded, “I’ve always said, if bullets start ripping through, I’m finding Goodman. He’s been in hostile firefights, so he knows how to keep his head.”
In chaotic situations such as the Capitol Riot, it is easy to be overwhelmed and take the path of least resistance from the perpetrators. Instead, Goodman strategically backed up as the “protestors” stormed the Capitol and started up a flight of stairs leading to Senate chambers. Knowing that the chambers lie to one side of the top of the stairs, he was determined to bait the mob to head in the other direction. To accomplish that aim, he gently pushed the man leading the mob. This move reflected restraint – designed to prevent loss of life and/or injury – and succeeded in getting the throng to pursue Goodman instead of heading toward the chambers. Shortly after Goodman lured the insurrectionists away from lawmakers, the Senate doors were sealed which gave lawmakers the opportunity to seek refuge. And, during this tense standoff, Goodman managed to stay in communication with fellow officers to describe the situation and obtain backup.
One can only imagine all the things that were going on in Officer Goodman’s mind as he engaged in the flight and fight of his life. In addition to trying to maintain balance between restraint, strategic movement, and constant communication, Goodman was grappling with a vicious bunch who brought racist flags and symbols with them. As New York Law School professor and former NYPD detective Kirk Burkhalter notes, it usually “doesn’t end up well for Black folks” when they’re being chased by angry White people carrying Confederate flags and donning Nazi shirts. Despite this terrifying context and sequence of events, Officer Goodman was able to keep composure and avert a substantial loss of life.
Fortunately, Goodman’s actions haven’t gone unnoticed. A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently introduced a bill to award the officer a Congressional Gold Medal for his bravery and service to America. Plenty of media outlets have written about the man and his selfless quest. Goodman puts matters simply: “My job is to protect and serve. And on that day, I was protecting.” And for protecting scores of lawmakers and democracy itself during an exceptionally dark day in our history, Officer Eugene Goodman is undoubtably a Profile in Courage.
Netanyahu confirms flydubai pilot conducted stabbing, praises passengers’ heroism at Ben-Gurion
Later, Netanyahu was filmed at the airport embracing one of the passengers who helped neutralize the attacker on the plane, who was still wearing a blood-stained shirt.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with one of the passengers from the hijhacked flydubai flight at Ben-Gurion Airport on September 30, 2026.(photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)ByMAYA ZANGER-SHAMIR, KESHET NEEVSEPTEMBER 30, 2026 16:30Updated: SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 20:23
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement to the public on Wednesday afternoon following the suspected hijacking incident involving a flydubai plane meant to land in Tel Aviv earlier in the day, confirming that one of the pilots had carried out a stabbing attack.
See Haaretz analysis:
Analysis
Netanyahu Should Be Careful Claiming Foresight Over a Threat He Failed to Prevent
As his allies cast Wednesday’s suspected terror incident as proof of Netanyahu’s prudence, they raise a more troubling possibility: Israel either failed to act on credible intelligence or is exploiting an isolated incident for political gain.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.null
Six years ago, Israelis were offered a promising new destination for travel and trade: the United Arab Emirates, which had just normalised diplomatic relations with Israel under a US-brokered deal.
Dubai government-owned Flydubai provided a budget choice for the three-and-a-half-hour trip. When many foreign carriers suspended flights to Israel in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack and the ensuing regional conflicts, Emirati airlines mostly kept flying. And many Israelis felt the highly security-conscious UAE was a safer place to holiday than Europe.
But Wednesday’s extraordinary brawl aboard a Tel Aviv-bound Flydubai plane has come as a shock to Israelis who increasingly viewed the UAE as a safe haven in a region where they have few friends.
One pilot on the flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv stabbed the other and attempted to crash the aircraft, according to witnesses and officials, forcing an emergency landing after the plane plunged 20,000 feet in a matter of minutes.
Known as the Abraham Accords and also signed by three other Arab states, the 2020 peace agreement formalised quiet but long-running commercial links between the UAE and Israel.
These have grown since the deal was struck, with bilateral trade surpassing $3bn per year in 2024, according to Israeli data, up to 25 flights per day at times, and a growing population of Israelis living in the UAE. A handful of known Israeli businesses operate, from bakeries to fintech companies, and Israeli tourists throng Dubai hotels such as the Atlantis The Royal.
The UAE has become Israel’s closest Arab ally. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Abu Dhabi on Sunday to meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan. The two discussed “ways to strengthen ties”, according to the UAE state news agency, in the first acknowledgment of Netanyahu coming to the UAE.
Ask the questions but we can see with our eyes and commonsense provides the understanding of tge harm being done to our precious planet:
Are Space Shuttle Splashdowns Dangerous For Marine Life? New Findings Raise Questions
As the Artemis II Orion capsule prepares for a high-energy return, new environmental findings question the long-term cost of turning the Pacific into a ‘spacecraft cemetery.’
“There’s a line from the first Batman, Joker, he’s like, ‘I’ve already been dead once already. It’s very liberating,’” Fetterman told Maher on Friday. “That’s not reckless, that’s just freeing. It’s just freeing in a way. And I just think after beating all of that, I just really want to be able to say the things that I have to really believe in and not be afraid of if there’s any kind of blowback.”
Following the October 7 Hamas attack, Fetterman broke from the progressives who got him elected to saber-rattle for Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza. His stance has largely been antagonistic, trolling protesters rallying for a cease-fire by waving an Israel flag over them, laughing at military veterans getting arrested protesting for a cease-fire, and castigating the United States for abstaining from a cease-fire resolution instead of voting against it. He has described student encampment protests as “pup tents for Hamas” and spread debunkedpropaganda denigrating pro-Palestine demonstrations in Philadelphia.
Since adopting an aggressively pro-Israel stance, Fetterman has also backed harsher border policies—a curious stance given that he used to point to his wife’s undocumented status as a child to tout his progressive bona fides.
Fetterman frames his seismic shift as stances he’s always had, which his brain damage simply allowed him the freedom to embrace—despite constantly describing himself as a progressive through the years, seeking endorsement from the Democratic Socialists of America, and himself endorsing progressive candidates for office.
While progressives who campaigned hard for Fetterman feel betrayed by his shift, conservatives have celebrated Fetterman’s self-described brain damage–induced embrace of right-wing positions—itself a clear signal he’s garnering the wrong audience.
“If only there was some way we could repeat this experiment with other elected officials,” replied another user in response to a Fox News post about how Fetterman’s brain damage “freed” him.
West Bank’s ancient olive tree a ‘symbol of Palestinian endurance’
by Louis BAUDOIN-LAARMAN
Nov 7, 2025
Italian and Japanese experts estimate the tree to be 3,000 to 5,500 years old — John Wessels
As guardian of the occupied West Bank’s oldest olive tree, Salah Abu Ali prunes its branches and gathers its fruit even as violence plagues the Palestinian territory during this year’s harvest.
“This is no ordinary tree. We’re talking about history, about civilisation, about a symbol,” the 52-year-old said proudly, smiling behind his thick beard in the village of Al-Walajah, south of Jerusalem.
Abu Ali said experts had estimated the tree to be between 3,000 and 5,500 years old. It has endured millennia of drought and war in this parched land scarred by conflict.
Around the tree’s vast trunk and its dozen offshoots — some named after his family members — Abu Ali has cultivated a small oasis of calm.
A few steps away, the Israeli separation wall cutting off the West Bank stands five metres (16 feet) high, crowned with razor wire.
More than half of Al-Walajah’s original land now lies on the far side of the Israeli security wall.
Yet so far the village has been spared the settler assaults that have marred this year’s olive harvest, leaving many Palestinians injured.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and some of the 500,000 Israelis living in the Palestinian territory have attacked farmers trying to access their trees almost every day this year since the season began in mid-October.
The Palestinian Authority’s Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, based in Ramallah, documented 2,350 such attacks in the West Bank in October.
– ‘Rooted in this land’ –
Almost none of the perpetrators have been held to account by the Israeli authorities.
Israeli forces often disperse Palestinians with tear gas or block access to their own land, AFP journalists witnessed on several occasions.
But in Al-Walajah for now, Abu Ali is free to care for the tree. In a good year, he said, it can yield from 500 to 600 kilograms (1,100 to 1,300 pounds) of olives.
The reason why the olive trees should not be burned
March 5, 2025
In many agricultural areas, the burning of branches resulting from the pruning of the olive trees remains a common practice. Although a quick and simple method for waste management is considered, this action has considerable environmental consequences, since Contributes to climate change.
When olive branches burn, contaminating gases such as carbon dioxide are released. In addition, burning destroys organic matter that, if letting decompose naturally, could provide essential nutrients to the soil and improve its structure. The elimination of this waste through fire also increases the Forest fire riskan increasingly frequent threat in agricultural and rural areas.
September 25, 20261:17 AM GMT+1Updated September 25, 2026
Summary
Mufti says Saudi-backed Yemeni government must assert authority over entire country
Statement follows weeks of missile, drone and airstrike escalation between Saudi Arabia and Houthis
Yemeni forces lost control of Bab el-Mendeb waterway to Houthis two weeks ago
RIYADH, Sept 25 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority called on soldiers in the kingdom to be ready to lay down their lives to fight the Iran-backed Houthis until the group is ousted from power, a statement posted on the Saudi state news agency said.
The rare and strongly worded message by Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan Al-Fawzan was addressed to soldiers stationed at the country’s borders and drew heavily on Quranic verses and recorded sayings of the Prophet Mohammad related to sacrifice and struggle in defence of God.
Yemen’s Houthis threaten to strike Saudi bridges in retaliation for airstrikes
Story by TZVI JASPER
• 17h
In this handout photo provided by Houthi Media Center, people inspect Al-Dalil Bridge following an aerial attack carried out by a Saudi war jet targeted it on September 26, 2026 in Ibb province, Yemen.
Yemen‘s Houthis could begin targeting bridges in Saudi Arabia as a form of retaliation against airstrikes that the terror group claims were made by the Saudi military, a Sana’a military source told Lebanese outlet Al-Akhbar on Monday.
According to the source, Saudi Arabian airstrikes have targeted Yemeni bridges and other civilian infrastructure while claiming they were missile launch platforms.
“Civilian bridges are not used for military purposes,” the source said, calling the Saudi practice “utter bankruptcy.”
Smoke rises near buildings in Taiz Governorate, Yemen, following what the Houthi-run health ministry says was a strike on shops at a market, while Yemen’s internationally recognised government says its forces targeted a Houthi military camp and vehicles at the same junction, September 27, 2026. (credit: Social Media/via REUTERS)
Houthis claim Saudi Arabia struck market in Yemen
On Sunday, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that an attack against a market at the Mawiya junction in Taiz province was carried out by Saudi Arabia and not Yemen’s internationally recognized government.
According to Houthi claims, the attack targeted a market in the city and left more than 50 casualties, including the wounded and the dead.
The Houthis accused the Saudis of “committing a heinous crime against civilians,” while they also claimed that the attack was performed by a Saudi F-15 squadron.
Jerusalem Post Staff and Reuters contributed to this report.
Saudi’s desire for F35 jets:
Royal Saudi Air Force F-35
The US Department of State approved on 17 September 2026 a possible Foreign Military Sale of forty-eight F-35A Lightning II fighters to Saudi Arabia, an estimated $24.3 billion package that the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified to Congress the same day as Transmittal 26-69. The request covers forty-nine Pratt & Whitney F135-PW-100 engines — forty-eight installed, one spare — along with cryptographic equipment, electronic warfare database support, simulators, and the long tail of spares, software and training that any fighter purchase drags behind it. If Congress lets it stand, the kingdom would become the second Middle Eastern operator of the aircraft after Israel, and the first Arab one. The notification came ten months after President Donald Trump publicly committed to the sale, and it arrived while Saudi Arabia was fighting on two fronts at once: absorbing Iranian missile and drone strikes since the United States and Israel opened their war on Iran on 28 February 2026, and trading blows with Yemen‘s Houthi movement, which claimed on 16 September 2026 that it had shot down a Royal Saudi Air Force F-15SA over Marib.
The public commitment dates to 17 November 2025, the day before Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s White House visit. Asked about the jets, Trump said “I will say that we will be doing that, we’ll be selling F-35s, yeah.” He said the Saudis “want to buy” them, and that they had “been a great ally.” At the time, the potential sale of forty-eight aircraft was widely treated as the main bargaining chip in the administration’s effort to bring Saudi Arabia into the Abraham Accords. That linkage did not survive. The State Department cleared the aircraft in September 2026 with Saudi-Israeli normalization still stalled on the question of Palestinian statehood, and with the Pentagon’s own intelligence arm still warning that Chinese access to Saudi bases and networks could put the fighter’s technology at risk.
The Trump administration has approved a $24.3 billion sale of 48 F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, along with engines and other parts.
The deal comes as Iran-backed Houthis escalate attacks on Saudi Arabia and seek control of the strategically important Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Congress has 30 days to scrutinize deal, with lawmakers raising concerns over the potential transfer of sensitive U.S. military technology and Riyadh’s ties to China.
New Delhi, Sept. 19 — Questions continue over the fate of two Royal Saudi Air Force personnel after Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed it shot down an F15 over Marib province on September 16. Footage released by the Houthis appears to show burning aircraft wreckage, and open-source observers have linked a visible tail number, 5539, to a Saudi F15 operated by the 55th Squadron. The exact variant, aircraft status and cause of the crash have not been officially confirmed by Riyadh. If the jet was an F15SA or F5SR, it would normally carry two crew members: a pilot and a weapons-systems officer. No reliable information has emerged on whether either aircrew member ejected, survived, was recovered or was detained.
Some history:
Muhammad ibn Saud’s son and successor, Abdulaziz I (reigned 1765–1803), who had been largely responsible for this extension of his father’s realm through his exploits as commander in chief of the Wahhābī forces, continued to work in complete harmony with Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb. It was the latter who virtually controlled the civil administration of the country, while Abdulaziz himself, later in cooperation with his warlike son, Saud I (1803–14), busied himself with the expansion of his empire far beyond the limits inherited by him. Meanwhile, in 1792, Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb died at the age of 89. Wahhābī attacks on settled areas had begun to attract the attention of officials of the Ottoman Empire, the dominant political force in the region. In 1798 an Ottoman force invaded Al-Hasa, though it later was compelled to withdraw. Qatar fell to the Saudis in 1797, and they also gained control through local allies over Bahrain and parts of Oman.
In 1801 the Wahhābīs captured and sacked the Shiʿi holy city of Karbala in Ottoman Iraq, plundering and damaging important religious buildings. In the following year, Saud led his father’s army to the capture of Mecca itself in the Hejaz, which was also under Ottoman control. It was soon after Saud’s return from this expedition that his father was assassinated by a Shiʿi in the mosque of Al-Dirʿiyyah in revenge for the desecration of Karbala.
The Geran-4 is a Russian jet-powered one-way attack drone, in combat use over Ukraine since May 2026 and built to outrun the cheap interceptor drones that had begun defeating the propeller-driven Geran-2. It cruises at 300 to 350 km/h with a dash reported up to 500, flies at 4,000 to 5,000 m, and delivers a 50 kg warhead over a reported 450 to 850 km, a fraction of the Geran-2’s 1,800 to 2,500 km. Trading reach for speed and altitude is the design’s central decision: it lifts the drone above the guns and shoulder-launched missiles that kill Shaheds cheaply, while confining it to targets within roughly the depth of Kyiv and Odesa from its two known launch sites. At an estimated 85,000 to 120,000 dollars a round, about twice a Geran-2, it flies into a defence fielding 2,500 dollar interceptors at more than 10,000 a month, so the exchange still favours Ukraine whenever a drone intercept succeeds.
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