Pogrom in Aqraba during olive harvest

During the night of the 6 October, just after midnight, Israeli settlers attacked and set ablaze Palestinian vehicles in the village of Aqraba, Nablus, West Bank. Settlers spray-painted racist slogans calling for killing and revenge. Residents said they “believe such attacks are aimed at forcing Palestinians to leave their homes and abandon their land, paving the way for its takeover”.They said they were shocked by the attack, which took place after midnight, when the village was quiet and residents were asleep.

During the day, two Palestinians were injured by gunfire in a terror attack by state-backed Israeli settler militias against olive-picking farmers near the town of Aqraba. Palestinian photojournalist Jaafar Ashtiyeh, known for his exceptional images, is injured by israelis while covering their hostile raid.

Another Palestinian, at least, was injured.

Testimony of Mistaclim:

"The army threats to prevent Palestinians from harvesting their olives if "left-wing anarchist activists" arrives to assist with the harvest, yet it helps settlers in carrying out a shooting attack against the harvesters.

This morning, during an olive harvest near Aqraba in Area B, six ATVs carrying armed settlers sped into the area. They fired in the air and at the Palestinian harvesters, winding several of them including a photojournalist. The army arrived, and as usual its response was simply to issue a "closed military zone" order. The army obstructed the evacuation of the wounded; as far as is known, only one injured person was taken away. The settlers who had opened fire drove right past the soldiers, who did nothing.

As the governing authority, the army has a duty to enable the harvest, provide security for it, and safeguard the Palestinians' livelihood. However, the army and the settlers are coordinating to harm the Palestinians."

The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate statement

October 6, 2026 – The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has condemned the escalating targeting of journalists by Israeli occupation forces and colonist militias across the northern West Bank, describing it as a dangerous new chapter in the occupation’s systematic policy against journalists and media outlets.

In an official statement, the Syndicate reported that field reports documented colonist militias brutally assaulting Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Jaafar Ashtiyeh near the town of Aqraba, southeast of Nablus. Ashtiyeh sustained severe injuries that required his urgent transfer to the hospital in serious condition. The colonists also smashed and confiscated his professional journalistic equipment while he was covering colonist attacks on olive harvesters on the town’s lands.