Israeli settlers attack Palestinians during olive harvest

Oliver Conway (0:00)

This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. We're recording this at 14 Hours GMT on Friday the 16th of October. Masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers trying to harvest their olives in the occupied West Bank. President Zelensky praises what he calls real leaders in Europe as his relations with Donald Trump get worse. And the new tool designed to detect whether academic ideas have been generated by AI. Also in this podcast, why the world no longer needs a leap second and...

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The olive harvest in the occupied West Bank isn't just important to the Palestinian economy. It's a huge part of the local culture. It's also now a flashpoint for Israeli settler violence. The UN says the number of settler attacks over the past two weeks has overtaken the total from last year's harvest at nearly 200 One Palestinian has been killed and more than 120 others injured. Abbas Milhem from the Palestinian Farmers Union says losing a harvest can be heartbreaking.

Abbas Milhem (1:23)

It's not just a tree. It is part of the heritage, part of the culture, part of life, part of existence, part of peace, part of love, part of connection between the farm and the land.

You know, most of Palestinian farmers here, they deal and treat that tree exactly like they do with their daughters and their sons. When a settler come and uproot that tree, destroy that tree or burn out that tree, they try to burn the historical heritage and culture and life.

Oliver Conway (1:51)

The Israeli government says it deals severely with such acts of violence. Our Middle East correspondent Lucy Williamson spent the morning with a group of olive farmers south of Nablus and witnessed them coming under attack.

Lucy Williamson (2:04)

The settlers have been moving slowly down this road towards the olive grove, and they've now begun setting fire to trees on either side of the road. Some of the Palestinians have been moving up towards them. It's a stalemate, a standoff, and it could explode at any minute.

Within minutes, stones were being thrown towards us. We saw settlers using slingshots. Palestinians gathered here today hoping for safety in numbers. Some used fireworks to push the settlers back, but the settlers charged towards them.

SPEAKER_4 (2:35)

They're kicking somebody.

Lucy Williamson (2:37)

An American journalist said she was jumped on by settlers and attacked.

SPEAKER_5 (2:42)

I was on the ground and they were kicking me and for like 10 minutes, and I was trying to hold onto my cameras and to my bag.

Lucy Williamson (2:54)

Israeli forces fired tear gas into the Palestinian fields to end the confrontation. But this pattern is being repeated day after day as illegal settler outposts increase and the harvest season is getting more violent each year.

Oliver Conway (3:09)

Lucy Williamson reporting from the Occupied West Bank.

Russia appears to have ignored President Trump's call for an energy ceasefire. But rather than condemning Vladimir Putin for continuing his attacks, the US leader has turned on Volodymyr Zelensky, saying the Ukrainian leader is much harder to deal with than the Russian president. Mr Zelensky was asked about the comments as he met European allies in Brussels.

Volodymyr Zelensky (3:36)

It's more difficult to deal with me than with Putin. I had a couple of meetings with the American president and we always find topics for discussions and for making decisions.

I am standing up for Ukraine's interests solely and the people of Ukraine. We were attacked, we were occupied, our people were killed. It's only logical that we have a right to defend ourselves.

Oliver Conway (4:02)

But what can Europe do in the face of the US pivot towards Russia? Here's European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

Ursula von der Leyen (4:09)

Of course we supported President Trump's energy ceasefire. But we've seen that Russia did not respect it, not a single minute. Instead Russia escalated and therefore we have to increase the pressure on Russia. We're working now on the 22nd sanctions package.

And one thing is absolutely clear, we will not lift any sanctions unless Russia stops the war.

Oliver Conway (4:36)

Relations between the US and Ukrainian leaders had been improving but collapsed after President Trump announced his controversial plan to buy Russian diesel. So what are they like now?

I asked Vitaly Shevchenko, chief analyst at BBC Monitoring.

Vitaly Shevchenko (4:51)

I think they are, if not at their lowest point ever, then pretty close to it. I think for Volodymyr Zelensky, it was becoming increasingly more difficult to walk the tightrope between trying not to upset Donald Trump and stating the obvious. And the obvious fact is that it's becoming increasingly more difficult for Ukraine to defend itself without assistance from the United States. And this is the most critical. I've seen Zelensky speak about Donald Trump. He said he feels betrayed by the American president. He has suggested that he is weak. And I would be keen to see how he rose back from that, how the two leaders rebuild their relationship if that is going to happen at all.