Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Yariv Levin said Wednesday he had ordered the deportation of 32 foreign activists who had helped Palestinians harvest olives in the occupied West Bank, on the grounds they violated a military order.
Levin said the deportation order came after a complaint filed by Northern West Bank Settlements Council president Yossi Dagan, who said the activists were "anarchists who carried out provocations in the Samaria area."
Rudy Schulkind, a 30-year-old British national among the deported, told AFP he had come to the West Bank to support Palestinian farmers.
This year's olive season has been particularly violent, with several acts of vandalism and attacks from Israeli settlers.
Foreign activists often provide a presence meant to deter these incidents in rural West Bank areas.
Schulkind said he was held 72 hours by Israeli forces before being deported on October 19.
"We were arrested after they declared the area we were harvesting in as a military zone," he said, alleging that this was a common Israeli tactic against Palestinians.
He added that all 32 international volunteers were arrested in an olive grove near the West Bank city of Nablus.
Schulkind said that he and the other volunteers "were never brought before a judge", during their detention.
Minister Levin said the deportation was co-signed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and accused the activists of violating "a military commander's order" and of belonging to the UAWC (Union of Agricultural Work Committees).
UAWC is a Palestinian non-profit organization that focuses on agricultural development.
Israel labelled it a terrorist organization in 2021, along with five other NGOs, in a ruling condemned by the UN.
Schulkind did not disclose which organization he came with, but Fuad Abu Seif, General Director of UAWC, told AFP the volunteers came under a so-called "National Campaign" organized by many Palestinian NGOs and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.
Abu Seif said the UAWC is a member of that campaign, but not an organizer.
For its part, the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the arrests
