The Israeli military downplayed international concerns about settler attacks on Palestinian olive pickers in the West Bank, stating that the "incidents" highlighted by the media accounted for only a "small fraction" of the olive-growing areas in the region.

Previously, Palestinian authorities reported that Israelis had carried out 482 "attacks targeting olive picking" in nine West Bank provinces since the olive harvest season began on October 3. These attacks included an assault by settlers earlier this month on Washington Post photojournalist Heidi Levine and a group of European diplomats.