The Israeli military detained roughly 80 American, British, and Israeli volunteers in the occupied West Bank, a group that included Democratic New York congressional nominee Brad Lander, several rabbis, and a former deputy attorney general.
The detentions occurred near the West Bank village of Nahalin as the volunteers assisted Palestinian farmers with the annual olive harvest. Organisers with Protect the Harvest stated that the participants were gathered peacefully on private land at the invitation of a local family before security forces arrived.
Brad Lander confirmed his detention in a social media post from a transport bus, writing that the group was merely harvesting olives in a grove. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a strict siege on Hebron and neighbouring Halhul following a fatal shooting outside a checkpoint that killed two Israeli soldiers. Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed that the military strategy applied in Gaza and the Jenin refugee camp would now be replicated in Hebron, targeting entire clan neighbourhoods for forced displacement and mass home demolitions.
Human rights attorneys and legal scholars argue that the rapid demolition campaign constitutes unlawful collective punishment. High Court interventions have temporarily halted certain destructions while legal challenges proceed against ministerial orders.
The military operation represents the largest planned mobilisation in the West Bank since 1967.