Italy demands release of five activists detained by Israel during West Bank olive harvest

Italy has called for the immediate release of five Italian activists, all women, held by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Friday. Italian foreign ministry sources said the women were detained on Thursday by Israeli police in Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, along with other international activists. They were seeking to protect Palestinian farmers from settler attacks during the olive harvest. "What happened is unacceptable, they were not committing any crime," Tajani told reporters on the sidelines of an international summit in Istanbul, adding he hoped they would be released in a matter of hours. Israeli forces and armed settlers order Palestinians and activists to leave the area of olive plantation near the occupied West Bank town of Hebron, 13 October 2026 (Hazem Bader /AFP)