RAMALLAH, Palestine / ISTANBUL

Attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers have destroyed over 8,000 olive trees in the occupied West Bank in one week, causing nearly $7 million in losses, the Palestinian Agriculture Ministry said Thursday.

In its weekly report, the ministry said Palestinian lands have witnessed a “dangerous and accelerating escalation” in attacks by the Israeli army and illegal settlers, directly targeting the agricultural sector and sources of food security.

The ministry said these attacks, which occurred during the third week of December, were part of a systematic policy aimed at “seizing Palestinian land and emptying it of its indigenous inhabitants.”

According to the report, Israeli attacks were concentrated in the northern and central West Bank, where the army uprooted 5,000 olive trees in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin in the north, and another 3,000 olive trees in Turmus Ayya, east of Ramallah in the central West Bank.

The ministry also recorded sporadic bulldozing operations, including the uprooting of 156 olive trees in East Jerusalem, 100 fig trees in Tulkarem, 13 olive trees in eastern Qalqilya, and 19 olive trees, including 10 ancient trees, in Salfit and Bethlehem.

The report also documented the destruction of agricultural infrastructure, including the demolition of 13 water wells and agricultural rooms, the damaging of irrigation networks and theft of water pumps, the destruction of 82 beehives, and the poisoning of herds of sheep in various areas.

The West Bank has seen rising violence by the Israeli army and illegal settlers, often coinciding with harvest and planting seasons, an escalation the Palestinians say is aimed at pressuring farmers to abandon their lands.

According to the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, an official body, illegal Israeli settlers carried out 621 attacks against Palestinians and property in the occupied West Bank in November.

Israeli forces and illegal settlers have killed at least 1,103 Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, injured nearly 11,000, and detained around 21,000 since October 2023, Palestinian figures showed.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.