Four Italian women were taken into custody by the Israeli Defence Forces on Thursday while working to assist Palestinian farmers with their olive harvest. The detention occurred in the village of al-Bweib, located south of Hebron, following a series of similar interventions against international volunteers in the region.
The Italian Foreign Ministry confirmed the detention of the four nationals and stated that it has formally requested urgent clarification from Israeli authorities regarding the circumstances of their arrest and their current status. According to the Ministry, the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Consulate General of Italy in Jerusalem are actively engaging with Israeli officials. The Ministry has received confirmation that the women are currently being held at a police station.
This incident follows a large-scale operation by the Israeli military on Wednesday, which resulted in the detention of approximately 90 volunteers. Among those detained was Democratic candidate for the United States Congress Brad Lander, who was later released along with dozens of other activists subject to strict movement restrictions. Additionally, two other Italian citizens, Manuel and Alberto Tartarotti, were recently detained and subsequently expelled from the country.
The Israeli military justified the detentions by stating that the farmers and volunteers lacked the necessary prior approval for the harvest. An official spokesperson noted that the actions were taken “due to the security risk posed by conducting an uncoordinated harvest near an Israeli community” and characterized the presence of the activists as an act “intended solely to provoke, which undermines the harvesting process.”
The annual olive harvest has been characterized by significant tension, with frequent confrontations between Palestinian villagers attempting to collect their crops and Israeli settlers seeking to seize them. Recent weeks have seen a surge in violence from extremist settler groups, including an assault on several European diplomatic vehicles and the wounding of a photojournalist working for the Wall Street Journal last weekend.
Yesterday, a large-scale IDF operation led to the stopping and detention of around 90 volunteers, including Democratic candidate for the United States Congress Brad Lander, who was later released together with dozens of other activists under strict restrictions on their movements.
