RAMALLAH
The Israeli army and illegal Israeli settlers have seized Palestinian land, cut down hundreds of olive trees and stole livestock in attacks across the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said Friday.
The Palestinian Agriculture Ministry said in a weekly report that between Jan. 22 and 29, Israeli forces and what it described as “extremist Jewish settlers” uprooted 884 olive trees and stole 360 head of livestock in the West Bank.
The report said the attacks disrupted Palestinian farmers’ production and directly undermined food security in the territory.
It added that the incidents were carried out with the backing of the Israeli government and aimed to push Palestinian farmers off their land by establishing new settlement outposts.
According to the ministry, the attacks included cutting and uprooting olive trees, stealing livestock, burning tents, destroying water lines and crops, threatening farmers and demolishing retaining walls.
The report described the assaults as systematic and reflective of a policy of forced displacement, stressing that they violate international law.
It estimated direct losses during the reporting period at around $754,000.
The ministry urged the international community to take action to halt the attacks by illegal Israeli settlers and the Israeli army, provide protection to Palestinian farmers, and activate international accountability mechanisms against those responsible for the violations.
The report said Israel has intensified attacks in the West Bank during two years of genocide in the Gaza Strip, with assaults continuing in the form of killings, destruction, displacement and settlement expansion.
According to figures cited in the report, at least 1,110 Palestinians have been killed, more than 11,500 injured and over 21,000 detained as a result of the attacks.