Outposts, violence, impunity: The anatomy of Israeli settler land grabs

Beita, occupied West Bank – Olive harvest season is traditionally a time when Palestinian families gather in their groves, pick olives and cook over open fires. But when Musa Bani Shamsa and his 17-year-old son, who requested anonymity, arrived at his land in Beita, southeast of Nablus, the groves were empty. On the morning of October 14 after they arrived, a group of masked Israeli men surrounded them. They carried pistols, knives, pipes, sticks and a hammer, Shamsa told Al Jazeera. Only their eyes were visible. “At one point, I would take the beating for my son, and at another, my son would take the beating for me,” he said. “I was afraid they would kill him, kill him dead, because this has happened a lot.