LONDON: Israeli settlers injured three Palestinians during attacks on olive harvesters in several communities across the northern West Bank’s Nablus governorate, according to Palestinian media.

Settlers accompanied by Israeli forces attacked Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in Beita, Urif, Jamma’in, Awarta, Asira Al-Qibliya, Beit Furik and Deir Sharaf, according to local sources cited by the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

One Palestinian was injured in Beita, south of Nablus. In Deir Sharaf, west of the city, settlers beat a Palestinian man and his wife, leaving both with bruises and other injuries, the report said.

Israeli forces also fired stun grenades and tear gas at Palestinian farmers and foreign activists accompanying them during the harvest, WAFA reported.

Video from Beita showed an armed settler, apparently affiliated with a security squad from a nearby settlement, telling Palestinians and accompanying activists that they were not permitted to be in the area.

The incidents come as the annual olive harvest begins, a period that has historically brought an increase in settler attacks and access restrictions in the occupied West Bank.

On Thursday, settlers were filmed vandalizing olive trees and taking olives from trees belonging to residents of the nearby village of Al-Mughayyir while Israeli soldiers stood by without intervening, Israeli media reported.

Palestinians face varying restrictions on access to olive groves across the West Bank. In some areas, they are barred from harvesting altogether; in others, they may enter freely or must first obtain authorization from Israel’s Civil Administration.