Four Palestinians were treated at a hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday, reportedly after they were attacked by Jewish settlers near the village of Al-Janieh, west of Ramallah.

One of the victims treated at the Ramallah hospital, all members of the Abu Fahida family, was described as in serious condition with a head wound. Medical staff at the hospital were reportedly told by one victim that they were harvesting olives in their olive grove near the settlement of Talmon when a group of settlers attacked them with stones and clubs.

A relative of one of the victims told Haaretz that some 20 settlers were involved in the attack.

"We didn't see their faces," he said. "I was in the village when we heard screaming. We went down there and saw our people, one of whom was bleeding from the head. I called for help and the settlers fled."

The Israel Police and the Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories said that an investigation has been launched in the incident.

The annual olive harvest in the West Bank is in full swing and thousands of Palestinian farmers are working in the groves to bring in the harvest. In recent years, attacks on Palestinians by settlers in the course of the harvest have become more prevalent amid claims that the Israeli army and police are not adequately protecting the Palestinians. Palestinian police cannot help protect them in areas until Israeli security control.

Israeli authorities give Palestinians access to olive groves during the harvest in parts of the West Bank from which they are barred the rest of the year for security reasons. During the harvest season, security forces in the West Bank are tasked with coordinating operations to prevent Palestinians from attacking settlers as well as settlers attacking Palestinians.