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Israeli soldier detaining olive farmer Ayoub Abu Hejleh in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 7, 2023. Abu Hejleh says he has been unable to harvest his olives because Israeli soldiers and settlers have have blocked him from his land since the war in Gaza started on October 7th when Hamas insurgents attacked Israel, killing more than 1,400 people. Ayman Oghanna/NPR hide caption
Israeli soldier detaining olive farmer Ayoub Abu Hejleh in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 7, 2023. Abu Hejleh says he has been unable to harvest his olives because Israeli soldiers and settlers have have blocked him from his land since the war in Gaza started on October 7th when Hamas insurgents attacked Israel, killing more than 1,400 people.
Ayman Oghanna/NPRIt's olive harvesting season in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. But farmer Ayoub Abu Hejleh hasn't been able to harvest olives from any of his 370 trees yet this year.
He says Israeli soldiers and settlers have blocked him from his land since the war started. That was back on October 7, when Hamas insurgents attacked Israel, killing more than 1,400 people.
While the world has focused on Israel's response in Gaza, violence in the West Bank is also spiking.
The International Crisis Group estimates more than 130 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war began.
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly and her team traveled to Abu Hejleh's village. They saw first-hand how the war between Israel and Hamas is upending lives for Palestinians in the West Bank, sometimes in extremely frightening ways.
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This episode was produced by Kat Lonsdorf, Erika Ryan, Linah Mohammad, Sawsan Khalife and Jason Fuller. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Adam Raney. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.
