IDF says about 220,000 dunams of West Bank olives harvested so far

The Israeli military has put out its own estimates for this season's olive harvest in the West Bank, saying roughly 220,000 dunams of groves have been picked to date. In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that around 100 coordinated harvesting sites had operated with security personnel present, and that the yield so far came to about 22,500 tons of olives.

The army also said that about 5,500 liters of olive oil had been produced from that crop, with a value it gave as 225 million NIS (new Israeli shekels). The Times of Israel reported the figures in the context of attacks by Israeli settlers on the harvest, while the military's statement argued that incidents drawing press coverage represent only a small share of harvest areas.

What the military reported

The figures came from the IDF spokesperson and were published on the army's official channels. The spokesperson's Telegram post described them as estimates and framed them around the work of security personnel to make the harvest possible. The main points were:

• About 220,000 dunams harvested so far.
• About 100 coordinated sites where picking took place with security forces guarding it.
• An estimated yield of about 22,500 tons of olives.
• About 5,500 liters of olive oil produced, valued at 225 million NIS.

The IDF post on X added that the incidents covered in the media make up just a small fraction of the land being harvested. A Hebrew-language summary of the statement carried by the Abu Ali Express channel put it in similar terms: the points of friction gaining traction in the media make up a few percent of harvest land, and the large majority of coordinated harvest sites under military protection are proceeding normally and without unusual incidents.

Who is harvesting, and where

The IDF statements refer to the area as Judea and Samaria, the biblical names that the Israeli government and military use for the West Bank. The West Bank is the territory lying between Israel and Jordan, home to a Palestinian population as well as Israeli settlements. Most international media, including The Times of Israel in its English reporting, use the term West Bank.

The army's own posts do not say who carried out the harvest. Emanuel Fabian, military correspondent for The Times of Israel, reported that the groves in question were harvested by Palestinians.

What a dunam is

A dunam is a unit of land area dating from the Ottoman period and still in everyday use in Israel and the Palestinian territories for describing farmland and property. The military gave its harvest area in dunams, and this report does not convert the figure into other units.

What a coordinated harvest site means

The IDF describes the roughly 100 sites as coordinated picking that security personnel protected. In practice this refers to harvesting that the army has arranged in advance and secures with troops on site. The reports do not list where these sites are, how many groves each covers, or what share of the total harvested area they account for.

Settler attacks and the competing framing

The two sides of this story appear in the same set of reports. The Times of Israel headlined its item on the figures with a reference to settler attacks, and Fabian's report described the harvest as taking place amid attacks by Israeli settlers. The military's statement, by contrast, emphasised that friction points account for only a small portion of harvest land and that most coordinated sites are going ahead without unusual incidents.

None of the reports gives a count of attacks, injuries or arrests connected to the harvest, and none names specific locations where incidents took place. The military's claim about the share of land affected is its own characterisation and is not accompanied by a figure for how much area saw incidents.

Small differences between the reports

The accounts largely repeat the same numbers, but the wording on the headline figure differs slightly. The IDF says approximately 220,000 dunams have been harvested, while Fabian's report says over 220,000 dunams. Only the IDF post on X includes the 225 million NIS value; the other reports available here stop at the oil volume or omit the valuation.

What the reports do not say

• How the military arrived at its estimates of area, tonnage, oil volume or value, or who collected the data.
• How the oil figure relates to the olive tonnage. The statement gives both numbers without explaining the calculation, and some of the olives may not yet have been pressed.
• What proportion of the total harvest season or total olive-growing land the figures represent.
• Whether Palestinian authorities, farmers or rights groups have their own figures, and whether they agree with the army's account.
• Any specific numbers for settler attacks during the harvest, or what action, if any, has been taken in response.