80 Israelis and Americans, including NY Democrat Brad Lander, detained in West Bank

Israeli security forces detained approximately 80 to 90 volunteers in the West Bank on Wednesday, according to NPR, Al-Monitor, and the Jerusalem Post. The group, which included U.S. Democratic congressional nominee Brad Lander and former deputy attorney-general Yehoshua Schoffman, was working with Rabbis for Human Rights to assist Palestinian farmers with the olive harvest near a village close to Bethlehem.

Haaretz reports the volunteers were helping farmers reach lands that have been inaccessible since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

The Jerusalem Post reports that the IDF arrived two hours after the volunteers began working and declared the field a closed military zone. Although activists told the Post they complied with military orders to leave the area, they were still detained and transported to a police station for processing. One detained activist told the Jerusalem Post that no one was harmed during the process.

Brad Lander, described by Al-Monitor as an ally of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, stated that he was harvesting olives in a grove near Nehalim. According to the Jerusalem Post, Rabbis for Human Rights noted that the Palestinian farmers had been unable to access these olive groves for three years.

Brief written by urgent.news from NPR, Al-Monitor, Jerusalem Post, Haaretz — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.