AhlulBayt News Agency: Israeli occupation forces and illegal settlers destroyed more than 8,000 olive trees across the occupied West Bank within a single week, causing losses estimated at nearly $7 million, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.
The Ministry, in a statement released Thursday, said the destruction occurred during one week in December and represented a severe blow to Palestinian farming and food security.
In its weekly report, the Ministry warned of what it called a “dangerous and accelerating escalation” in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers, noting that agriculture has increasingly become a direct target.
The assaults, which took place in the third week of December, were described as part of a systematic policy aimed at “seizing Palestinian land and emptying it of its indigenous inhabitants.”
Thousands of trees uprooted
The report highlighted that the most severe damage was concentrated in the northern and central West Bank. Around 5,000 olive trees were uprooted in Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, while another 3,000 were destroyed in Turmus Ayya, east of Ramallah.
Additional bulldozing operations were reported elsewhere, including the uprooting of 156 olive trees in eastern al-Quds, 100 fig trees in Tulkarm, 13 olive trees in eastern Qalqilya, and 19 olive trees—10 of them ancient—in Salfit and Beit Lahm.
Beyond the destruction of trees, the Ministry documented widespread damage to agricultural infrastructure. This included the demolition of 13 water wells and farming rooms, damage to irrigation networks, theft of water pumps, destruction of 82 beehives, and poisoning of sheep herds in multiple areas.
The Ministry stressed that such attacks undermine farmers’ ability to remain on their land and continue cultivation.
Assaults intensify during harvest seasons
The West Bank has witnessed a sharp rise in violent assaults by Israeli forces and settlers, often coinciding with crucial agricultural periods such as planting and harvest seasons. Palestinian officials argue that the timing is deliberate, intended to pressure farmers into abandoning their land.
Figures from the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission show that illegal settlers carried out 621 attacks against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank during November alone.
Since October 2023, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 1,103 Palestinians in the West Bank, including eastern al-Quds, injured nearly 11,000 others, and detained about 21,000 people, according to Palestinian data.
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