West Bank olive harvest clashes

Jewish settlers have attempted to disrupt the annual olive harvest

Israeli forces have clashed with Jewish settlers who were trying to stop Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in the West Bank.

Police have arrested at least 15 youths from the Itamar settlement near Nablus in confrontations on Wednesday.

The settlers threw stones at the Palestinians and defied 200 Israeli soldiers protecting the olive pickers.

Israel has publicly pledged to facilitate this year's olive harvest in agreement with Palestinian councils.

Since the intifada flared in 2000, two West Bank olive farmers have been killed and dozens wounded in attacks blamed on settlers.

The settlers said they wanted to prevent the farmers entering the settlement, according to reports.

They said when Palestinians approached to harvest their groves, they collect information that is later used to attack settlers.

But the violence has prevented many farmers from harvesting their crop during the past four years.

In recent weeks, there have been a number of reports of settlers stealing olives from Palestinian villagers in the northern West Bank.

Attacks on settlers

The farmers from Hawarta had a permit to harvest their olive grove, which is in a security zone between Itamar's security fences.

Israel Defence Forces had been deployed for their protection but settlers tried to prevent them from working.

Twelve Israelis have been killed in terrorist attacks in Itamar since the start of the intifada.

The settlers had proposed to buy the farmers' entire harvest to prevent them from entering the security fence but the offer was refused.

"If we don't go, then after, the settlers will then claim it's not our land and they'll claim the land for themselves," said a farmer quoted by Spanish news agency EFE.