Official: Soldiers obstructing olive harvest in Nablus

According to Ma'an news agency, an official stated that "Israeli" forces prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing their olive groves south of Nablus on Monday despite prior coordination with military liaison authorities.

Ghassan Daghlas, a senior Palestinian Authority official who holds the northern West Bank settlements portfolio, said the farmers wanted to visit their privately owned fields for the annual olive harvest, but were turned away by soldiers operating in the area.

Daghlas explained that the Palestinians were from Al-Libban and Qaryout, near the illegal settlement of Eli, and reiterated that a liaison office had guaranteed they would be permitted to access their lands this once.

Meanwhile, Army Radio reported on Monday that an unusually low West Bank olive yield was expected to raise olive oil prices inside the occupied territories.