The Israeli military has destroyed approximately 3,000 olive trees in al-Mughayyir, a village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
According to the head of the local council, the destruction is part of a broader effort to seize Palestinian land and forcibly displace residents.
The Israeli military justified the measure by claiming the trees posed a “security threat” to a main Israeli settlement road that runs through the village’s lands.
The destruction of olive trees is particularly significant, as they are an important Palestinian cultural symbol.
For decades, the Israeli military has uprooted olive trees across the occupied Palestinian territory as part of its efforts to seize Palestinian land and forcibly displace residents.
Hamza Zubeidat, a Palestinian researcher, emphasized that al-Mughayyir has a long agricultural history and relies almost entirely on agriculture and livestock as its main source of income.
“This area where more than 3,000 olive trees [were] uprooted is one of the most fertile areas in this part of the Ramallah area,” Zubeidat explained.
“Uprooting trees, confiscated water springs, blocking and preventing Palestinians from accessing their farms and water sources means more food and water insecurity.”
The West Bank has seen a surge in Israeli military and settler violence since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, with tens of thousands of Palestinians forced out of their homes.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 2,370 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have been reported across the area from January 2024 to the end of July this year.
At least 671 Palestinians, including 129 children, have been killed by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers across the West Bank in the same time period.
The international community has widely condemned Israel’s actions in the West Bank.
Over 20 nations have joined the EU and UN in opposing Israel’s illegal E1 settlement plan, which would split the occupied West Bank in half and jeopardize a future Palestinian state.
Zubeidat emphasized that Israel’s actions are part of a continuous effort to force Palestinians off their lands. “We have to be clear that since 1967, Israel is still implementing the same plan of evicting the Palestinian population from the countryside and the cities of the West Bank. What’s going on right now is just a continuous process of this eviction of Palestinians. It’s not a new Israeli process,” he told newsmen.