Israeli Forces Detain Brad Lander and Dozens of Activists at West Bank Olive Harvest

Israeli security forces detained Brad Lander, a United States congressional candidate from New York, alongside about 80 international and Israeli volunteers on Wednesday while they helped Palestinian farmers harvest olives in the occupied West Bank.

Lander, the former New York City comptroller and Democratic nominee for New York's 10th District, was released hours later with a warning.

Dozens of other participants, including American rabbis and human rights advocates, remained in custody as authorities reviewed their cases.

The mass detentions occurred during the annual olive harvest, a period defined this year by rising tensions and widespread violence directed at Palestinian agricultural workers by Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

"We've been detained by the Israeli military for harvesting olives, and let's be clear: Occupation is a crime under international law," said Brad Lander, a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The volunteers had spent roughly two hours picking fruit in an olive grove near the village of Nahalin, outside Bethlehem, before drones appeared overhead and military personnel arrived to clear the area.

Soldiers declared the site a closed military zone, checked identification documents and loaded the participants onto buses bound for a police station.

The Israel Defense Forces said the group failed to request permission in advance for the agricultural work, stating that the action posed security risks near an Israeli community.

Israel's Foreign Ministry accused Lander of orchestrating a political provocation by entering a restricted security sector without authorization, according to a statement reported by Al Jazeera.

Organizers from Protect the Harvest disputed that narrative, telling reporters that the participants had been invited by a local Palestinian family and complied with military orders to leave.

"Just now, they told me that I’m being detained for the crime of olive harvesting," said Joshua Schoffman, former deputy attorney general of Israel, according to The Guardian.

Police officials said 32 activists faced questioning and subsequent release under travel restrictions, while four foreign nationals faced potential deportation proceedings.

Human rights organizations report that Palestinian farmers have largely abandoned traditional groves near settlements due to a surge in attacks and tightened military access restrictions.

Unresolved questions remain regarding the exact legal status of the land where the volunteers were detained and whether the remaining detainees will face formal charges or deportation.