According to a report by Reuters on September 23, in Deliy Zam in the West Bank, Palestinian villagers cried over the destroyed remains of olive trees. Earlier, the Israeli military used bulldozers to uproot these trees. The following days would have been the season for olive harvesting; for Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, this is usually a source of joy.
Abdul Fattah Tamimi owns an olive garden on village land near Ramallah. He witnessed a military bulldozer destroying the top of one of his trees, and then pulling out the roots from the ground.
Tamimi said, “All of our olive trees, including those that were newly planted, were uprooted. The trees of our neighbors were also taken down.”
He added that he and his neighbors once owned nearly 9 acres of land filled with olive trees, “They took everything from us.”
In the past, the Israeli military removed olive trees from the land under the pretext of ‘preventing security threats or ambushes against troops’. Palestinian human rights organizations rejected this claim, stating that such destruction actually deprived Palestinian farmers of their income from selling olives and olive oil. Moreover, it removed trees that were seen as symbols of connection to the land.
It is understood that olive harvest usually begins in the first week of October. According to data from the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Agriculture, olives are a pillar of Palestinian agriculture; this industry accounts for about 8% of GDP and provides more than 60,000 jobs.
Palestinian activists and farmers expect this year's harvest to be particularly turbulent, as attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians and Palestinian resources in the region are increasing at a record rate.
Another landlord in the Dair Nizam village area near Ramala, Nasser Tammimi, said that the loss of trees was particularly painful, as it occurred shortly before the harvest began.
On this land, my brother and I produced 120 barrels of olive oil. Our neighbors also produced the same amount," Tamee said as he looked at his olive grove. "They uprooted trees by root, even leaving no tree between houses unmoved."
While threatening the livelihoods of local residents, the Israeli military is also continuously encroaching upon land in local villages. Media outlets such as Israel’s Haaretz reported that on September 23, Israeli forces began demolishing houses, sheds, livestock pens, and wells in Janba village, located in southern Hebron. Earlier in September, the Masafer Yatta area on the southern West Bank also experienced large-scale demolitions; the homes of 12 families were completely destroyed, and the entire village was almost “erased.”
