October 30, 2026, Occupied Palestine – Fourteen international solidarity activists from Italy, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Ireland and Sweden are facing possible deportation after being detained by Israeli occupation forces while accompanying Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest in al-Lubban al-Gharbi, northwest of Ramallah. The activists were detained inside a house in the village, away from the olive groves, and subsequently transferred to the Israeli police station at the Ni’ilin checkpoint. They were questioned on suspicion of violating a military commander’s order by entering a closed military zone. They will attend a visa revocation hearing today, which could result in their deportation. The hearing is scheduled in Yahalom offices at 11 a.m.
The settlers followed the group into the residential area of the village, where Israeli occupation forces soon joined them. Occupation soldiers subsequently entered a house where the 14 international activists had gathered and detained them. Although the authorities accused the activists of violating a closed military zone order, no such order had been presented to them while they were on the agricultural land. According to witnesses, settlers remained alongside soldiers throughout the detention.
Israeli occupation forces also detained the mayor of al-Lubban al-Gharbi, who was severely beaten. They damaged property at his carpentry workshop and threatened him, warning him not to return to the agricultural land or bring international activists to the village again.
One of the Italian detained activists stated:
I came here to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and to oppose the genocidal zionist regime that has been killing, injuring and displacing innocent lives for decades. No one should ever suffer the unspeakable crimes Israel is committing against the Palestinian people, and it is therefore necessary that we stand up against the evil states and governments that perpetuate such destruction, including all of Israel’s allies. Palestinian liberation is an issue that involves us all as we seek collective freedom: zionism is in fact a racist ideology that has a global impact extending beyond Israeli apartheid system, as it exports weapons, technologies, and techniques of violence to other governments oppressing their people. As we are witnessing a live-streamed genocide we need to realize freedom for the Palestinians ultimately means freedom for every human being, and we shall therefore act against the terror and the indifference preached by the oppressors.
Al-Lubban al-Gharbi is situated in an area of the occupied West Bank where settlement expansion, land confiscation and restrictions on movement have progressively reduced Palestinian access to agricultural land.
Between 2023 and 2026, settlers from the Avichai Farm outpost, established on Palestinian land near the village, fenced off and seized hundreds of acres of agricultural land, including olive groves. The village is also surrounded by Israeli settlements and bypass roads, while the apartheid wall has cut off access to substantial portions of its agricultural land.
These restrictions are part of a broader pattern of settlement expansion and displacement across the western Ramallah area. This includes plans to reopen Route 463 as a settler road, introducing additional military checkpoints to further restrict Palestinian movement between communities already affected by ethnic cleansing from settlement infrastructure.
For Palestinian farming communities, these restrictions have dire consequences for their lives and livelihoods. The expansion of settlements and their associated infrastructure increasingly limits access to agricultural land, while settler attacks make cultivation and harvesting dangerous even where access remains theoretically possible. These pressures are particularly acute during the olive harvest, a vital source of income for an estimated 80,000–100,000 Palestinian families across the West Bank.
During the 2025 olive harvest, the International Solidarity Movement documented numerous incidents involving Israeli settlers and soldiers, including the use of live ammunition and tear gas against harvesters and international volunteers in Beita, attacks on a Palestinian woman and international volunteers in Turmusayya, and the obstruction of olive harvesters in Yatma.
The detention and threatened deportation of international solidarity activists in al-Lubban al-Gharbi come as Palestinian communities continue to call for an international solidarity presence to stand with them in defesne of their land to resist displacement. As the 2026 olive harvest draws to a close, Palestinian communities reiterate that international solidarity presence remain urgently needed throughout the year.