According to OHCHR, people present in the buildings were blindfolded, handcuffed and forced to kneel or lie on the ground for several hours. Eight men were arrested.
The union (UAWC) is licensed under Palestinian law and has supported farmers and rural communities for decades, particularly those facing settler violence or the threat of forced displacement.
The group is one of six Palestinian NGOs designated as “terrorist” by Israeli authorities in 2021 under legislation that the UN says is overbroad and allows for broad and unjustified restrictions on civil society. The human rights office stressed that Israel has not presented evidence to support the accusations.
The most violent olive harvest ever recorded
The raid followed several weeks of public harassment and incitement by Israeli settlers and settler leaders who attacked the UAWC during the peak of the olive harvest. This year’s harvest has been the most violent on record: by mid-November, OHCHR had documented 167 settler attacks affecting 87 Palestinian communities.
The violence has increasingly spread beyond the farmers themselves. Since October 1, the UN office has recorded 81 violations by settlers and Israeli security forces against human rights defenders, volunteers providing protective presence, and NGOs supporting communities victimized by settler violence or threatened by settlement expansion. These include 48 arrests or detentions and 22 physical assaults.
OHCHR said unnecessary or disproportionate force, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment remain common features of Israeli security operations in the West Bank.
‘Illegal annexation’
The cumulative effect, he warned, is a rapid reduction in physical and civic space for Palestinians, as settlement expansion and what the UN describes as Israel’s “illegal annexation” of the territory continues.
Ajith Sunghay, head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the international legal position is unequivocal: “Israel must end its illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory and expel all settlers in accordance with the findings of the International Court of Justice..”
“As an occupying power, Israel has clear duties under international law,” he added, including respecting and protecting the rights of Palestinians to earn a living and exercise freedom of expression and association.